David Chang had a long, long interview on Charlie Rose last night, and, for fans of the Momofuku man, it was pure gold. He confirmed that something for Vegas is in the works and, naturally, delivered his standard lines about taking his celebrity “with a grain of salt” and complimenting the chefs he learned from, like Andrew Carmellini, Marco Canora, and Jonathan Benno. But over the course of the long interview, all of which is conveniently lined up for you on Serious Eats, we also found out some other key pieces of information.
• He admits that his original plan for selling “Asian burritos” was a disaster, only averted because of the happy creation of the late-night menu: “I don’t know what the hell I was thinking.”
• Words to live by: “Authenticity is overrated.” We couldn’t agree more. And the Momofuku motto (also words to live by): “Undersell and overdeliver.”
• Great moment in the interview: Rose, quoting to Chang about himself from Gourmet, exclaiming, “Half this issue is about you!”
There’s also a lot about Chang’s philosophy of life — giving it your all, being “as reckless as possible,” etc. But, really, the interview is just about watching Chang be Chang. As we’ve said many times before: There’s only one Freddie Mercury, there’s only one “Magic” Johnson, and there’s only one David Chang, no matter what you think of the whole Ko phenomenon.
In Videos: David Chang on ‘Charlie Rose’ [Serious Eats]
