Cooking & Conversation: Let’s Microwave!
Innovative chef DAVID CHANG microwaves improbable meals while discussing the waves he’s made in the culinary industry. Audiences leave with a renowned appreciation for innovation, entrepreneurship, sustainability, and microwaving.
Culinary Innovation
Renowned chef DAVID CHANG discusses the creative processes behind his dishes and the evolution of food trends. Reflecting on his many industry-changing moves, Chang discusses launching an online reservation system, a chef-made meal delivery service, a ghost kitchen, and much more.
Entrepreneurship: Passion, Purpose, and Genuine Authenticity
Founder of the Momofuku Restaurant Group, DAVID CHANG, discusses the drive and commitment necessary to create, lead, and grow a business based on personal passion. In this engaging conversation, Chang shares the vulnerable and long journey to sharing his passion with the world.
Sustainability
Addressing the importance of sustainable practices in restaurants and the broader food ecosystem, renowned chef DAVID CHANG reflects on the learnings from his diverse experiences in the culinary world.
Mental Health
Founder of the Momofuku Restaurant Group and Majordomo Media, DAVID CHANG, shares his experiences with depression and bipolar. As discussed in his New York Times bestseller, Eat A Peach, Chang provides an honest and refreshing perspective on mental health.
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How David Chang’s Momofuku Restaurant Group changed the culinary industry
Six-time James Beard award winner DAVID CHANG is broadly recognized as a culinary industry changemaker. Fast Company shared that “the influence of his original noodle shop—which went on to spawn an empire, with restaurants in New York (two Noodle Bars, and Bang Bar), Las Vegas (Momofuku and Bang Bar) and Los Angeles (Majordōmo)—has been undeniable.”
Event Success Story: David Chang and Andrew Zimmern cook up innovation at The National Association of Convenience Stores
The National Association of Convenience Stores featured DAVID CHANG and ANDREW ZIMMERN in a program designed to address an industry trend of convenience stores becoming more than a place to get gas and buy cigarettes. Zimmern and Chang “shopped the show” for ingredients, to create a recipe from the ingredients inspired by the guests and representatives they met at each booth. The following day, they presented a cooking demo of their recipes while reflecting on their love of convenience stores. According to NACS, “The total attendance was 8.5% higher than attendance from last year and 3.8% higher than the previous record attendance in 2018.”
Chef and Food Celebrity David Chang Discusses His Journey With Depression and Bi-Polar Disorder
DAVID CHANG, award-winning chef, host of Netflix’s Ugly Delicious and Hulu's The Next Thing You Eat, and bestselling author recently opened up on NPR about his journey with depression and bi-polar disorder, and the good and bad choices it has led to him making throughout his life. Chang also recently published a memoir, Eat a Peach, which includes his journey with mental health and details how cooking and sharing food gives him a purpose and a passion. He brings these topics into his talks, and his honest look at mental health, through the lens of someone whose mental health struggles nearly killed him, is a refreshing take on the topic for audiences everywhere to educate, understand, and heal.
David Chang is the chef and founder of Momofuku, which includes restaurants in New York City, Sydney, and Toronto as well as a bestselling cookbook and print journal called Lucky Peach.
Momofuku originated in New York City, now home to Momofuku Noodle Bar, Momofuku Ssäm Bar, Momofuku Ko, Momofuku Milk Bar, Momofuku Má Pêche, and Booker and Dax at Ssäm. David opened Momofuku Seiōbo, his first restaurant outside of New York City, at The Star in Sydney in October 2011. In 2012, David opened Momofuku Toronto, located in a three-story glass cube in the heart of downtown Toronto. The building is home to five concepts: Noodle Bar Toronto, Nikai, Milk Bar Toronto, Daishō and Shōtō.
Since opening Noodle Bar in 2004, David has been honored with awards by Food & Wine Magazine and Bon Appetit and profiled in The New Yorker and Vogue. He was named a TIME 100, one of GQ 's “Men of the Year,” and Fortune’s “40 Under 40.” Dave has been called one of “The Most Influential People of the 21st Century” by Esquire and one of Fast Company’s “10 Most Creative People in Food.”
Dave has taken home four James Beard Foundation Awards and Momofuku Ko has two Michelin stars, which it has retained for six years. Momofuku Ko, Momofuku Ssäm Bar and Momofuku Seiōbo are all featured on the S. Pellegrino World's Best Restaurants list. Momofuku Seiōbo also has three hats from The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide (2013 and 2014 editions) and was the first restaurant to receive this honor in its opening year. Gourmet Traveller selected Momofuku Seiōbo as Restaurant of the Year for 2014 in addition to the #1 restaurant on the Top 100 2014 Restaurant Guide.
David's first cookbook, Momofuku, a New York Times best seller, came out in the fall of 2009. His quarterly print journal with Peter Meehan and Chris Ying called Lucky Peach launched in the summer of 2011. Lucky Peach Issue 2 & Issue 3 are both New York Times bestsellers. In the fall of 2012, David was the first chef to be featured on the PBS television show The Mind of a Chef.
David and Momofuku are also collaborating with Dave Arnold to create new equipment for use in the food sciences. The company will be called Booker and Dax, which is also the name of Momofuku’s bar project with Arnold.
In 2018, Ugly Delicious, hosted by David, premiered on Netflix. In the travelogue, David is joined by a variety of guests who use food as a vehicle to break down cultural barriers and tackle misconceptions.
His memoir, Eat A Peach, came out in 2020 and includes his journey with mental health and details how cooking and sharing food gives him a purpose and a passion. In 2021, he starred in a six-episode docuseries called The Next Thing You Eat, exploring the latest solutions food science has found to combat modern problems. He is the host of The Dave Chang Show, a podcast featuring conversations with thought-provoking guests.
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