MANILA, Philippines - Who is the Korean American chef known for his Michelin star Momofuku chain of restaurants and for being on Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential Persons list in 2010?
Born on Aug. 5, 1977, he worked in the kitchens of Jean-Georges Vongerticheten, Daniel Boulud and Tom Coliccho.
In 2004, he opened his first restaurant, Momofuku Noodle Bar in New York’s East Village. “Momofuku” means lucky peach, and is also a reference to Momofuku Ando, the the inventor of instant noodles.
He then opened a series of restaurants: Momofuku Ssäm in 2006, and in Momofuku Ko, a 12-seater restaurant that takes reservations 10 days in advance online, on a first-come, first-served basis in 2008.
In November 2008, he expanded the Momofuku Sam Bar to include the Momofuku Milk Bar, serving soft-serve ice cream along with cookies, pies, cakes, and other treats. The Milk Bar’s Crack Pie, Cereal Milk, and Compost cookies are so popular they are in the process today of being trademarked.
In 2010 he opened Má Pêche in midtown Manhattan as well as his first restaurant outside the US, in Sydney, Australia. Momofuku Seiobo, which opened in the redeveloped Star City Casino, was awarded three hats from the Sydney Morning Herald Food Guide in its first year and was named Best New Restaurant.
The Momofuku chain came to Toronto in 2011 in a three-story glass cube in the heart of downtown. It is made up of three restos: the Noodle Bar, Daisho and Shot, as well as a bar called Nikai.
He has won numerous James Beard awards: the Rising Star Chef of the Year in 2007, the Best Chef in New York City in 2008, Outstanding Chef in 2013, and was included in the Who’s Who in Food and Beverage America in 2014. Momofuko Ko also received the James Beard New Restaurant award for Momofuko Ko in 2009. His restos have consistently been in the S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants since 2011.
Momofuku Ko has also received two Michelin stars since 2009, while the others have been in the Michelin Guide.
Known for his bad boy attitude — no reservations, no vegetarian options — he created controversy in 2009 by making dismissive remarks about California chefs.
In October 2009, he and former New York Times writer Peter Meehan published Momofuku, a highly anticipated cookbook containing detailed recipes from his restaurants.
In 2010, he was on the list of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential Persons.
In the fall of 2012, he along with executive producer Anthony Bourdain launched a 16-episode series on PBS called the Mind of a Chef.
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