Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
to take around 2 hours; lunch on Friday,
Saturday, and Sunday offers a more com-
plex tasting menu that takes 3 hours and
costs more. The soundtrack is rock music,
played at a fair decibel level. You can only
book online 7 days in advance starting at
10am (hope your computer is fast, because
they book up in a nanosecond). You're
explicitly not allowed to sell your reserva-
tion. You have to spell out things like this
in New York, where any hot commodity
has its buyers.
Every night the menu is wildly different.
Chang and Serpico are partial to the
smokiness of pork belly, the silkiness of
scallops and flaked white fish, the tender-
ness of sous-vide cookery, the creaminess
of custards and foie gras, the tang of pick-
led vegetables (a nod to Chang's Korean-
American heritage). The cooking can be
inconsistent, but it's always edgy, excit-
ing, and deeply, deeply hip.
diners. Born in New Jersey, Chang fell into
cooking almost by chance, and his inspira-
tions come not from Escoffier and the
great French chefs but from Momofuko
Ando, the inventor of the instant ramen
noodle. His two main restaurants—
Momofuku Noodle Bar
(171 First Ave.)
and
Momofuku Ssäm Bar
(207 2nd Ave.),
both on the slightly scruffy edge of the
East Village—purport to be simple, earthy
noodle shops. But alongside his trademark
fare of steamed buns, smoked chicken
wings, kimchi stew, and savory bowls of
noodles, he also offers divinely nuanced
dishes such as rabbit and pork terrine with
fennel marmalade, bacon, and mustard;
or a Niman Ranch tri-tip steak with nugget
potatoes and kimchi butter. Even his bev-
erage lists are contrarian, including more
beers and sakes than wines.
For all his democratic impulses, Chang
is a gifted chef, and Momofuko Ko is where
he can give his avant-garde side free rein.
It's basically nothing but a chef's table, an
L-shaped blond wood counter with stools
for 12 people. The chef—usually Chang's
chef de cuisine Peter Serpico—cooks right
in front of the diners, interacting with
them, serving them directly from the stove
and counter. There's one menu offering, a
succession of small portions based on
whatever the chef was inspired to cook
that day—no a la carte, no substitutions,
boom that's it. A dinner at Ko is expected
163 First Ave. (www.momofuku.com).
(
John F. Kennedy International (15
miles/24km); Newark Liberty International
(16 miles/27km); LaGuardia (8 miles/
13km).
L
$$
The Lucerne,
201 W. 79th St.
(
&
800/492-8122
or 212/875-1000; www.
thelucernehotel.com). $
Milburn Hotel,
242 W. 76th St. (
&
800/833-9622
or 212/
362-1006; www.milburnhotel.com).
Chef's Tables
144
Lacroix
From Lacrosse to Lacroix
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Interesting that a guy who attended col-
lege on a lacrosse scholarship should wind
up as the executive chef at a restaurant
called Lacroix. Of course, his lacrosse days
at Syracuse were well over before Mat-
thew Levin shifted lanes to attend the
Culinary Institute of America. After appren-
ticing at restaurants such as Le Bec Fin,
Aureole, and Charlie Trotter's, he finally
took the reins of this top Philadelphia res-
taurant from esteemed French chef Jean-
Marie Lacroix in 2006. When it opened in
2003,
Esquire
named Lacroix the country's
best new restaurant; but since Levin took
over day-to-day kitchen duties, Lacroix has
won even more accolades.
