If you don't read the byline (Momofuku's David Chang), you'd be excused for thinking it's written by a doofus who's not really worried about actually constructing an argument as opposed to lining up opinions.
I like Chang, but I can't take his piece seriously with a sentence like this:
> I genuinely don’t give a fuck about any other place on the planet. I just want to go to Tokyo to eat. Look at the other food cities in the world, such as Paris. Can’t live there, because I don’t want to eat only French food. It’s great for a week and then you know what I want? Anything but French food.
I believe he occasionally frequents hip modern French restaurants in Paris, many of which are essentially focused on taking a modern twist on classical "haute cuisine" and making it less pretentious and even more adventurous. So it's a little rich to see him go on about Tokyo when after going to his favorite Ramen joints there a few years ago, I still couldn't find one that could touch my experiences at Kotteri Ramen Naritake in Paris — a decidedly Japanese export run the way a Ramen joint is supposed to run and yet the best Ramen I've ever had anywhere in the world.
Tokyo is an amazing place to eat. No argument about that. But putting down other culinary destinations just because you easily get bored of the main food style there is a little lazy. I've had amazing food in Tokyo without trying to play it safe. Yet, I could flip his "argument" about French food in Paris and say that when you get bored of Japanese food (or Japanese reinventions of other foods), then maybe Tokyo would get old for you.
What's far more likely is that he (Chang) has an intense emotional attachment to Tokyo's food scene and that it gives him perpetual pleasure. And that's great, for him. For anyone curious of his claims, just watch Mind of a Chef's Japan episode with David Chang, it's a marvel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cJm1zny0Bw
PS: Yes, I'm French, from Paris, and just as fucking biased as he is.
I like Chang, but I can't take his piece seriously with a sentence like this:
> I genuinely don’t give a fuck about any other place on the planet. I just want to go to Tokyo to eat. Look at the other food cities in the world, such as Paris. Can’t live there, because I don’t want to eat only French food. It’s great for a week and then you know what I want? Anything but French food.
I believe he occasionally frequents hip modern French restaurants in Paris, many of which are essentially focused on taking a modern twist on classical "haute cuisine" and making it less pretentious and even more adventurous. So it's a little rich to see him go on about Tokyo when after going to his favorite Ramen joints there a few years ago, I still couldn't find one that could touch my experiences at Kotteri Ramen Naritake in Paris — a decidedly Japanese export run the way a Ramen joint is supposed to run and yet the best Ramen I've ever had anywhere in the world.
Tokyo is an amazing place to eat. No argument about that. But putting down other culinary destinations just because you easily get bored of the main food style there is a little lazy. I've had amazing food in Tokyo without trying to play it safe. Yet, I could flip his "argument" about French food in Paris and say that when you get bored of Japanese food (or Japanese reinventions of other foods), then maybe Tokyo would get old for you.
What's far more likely is that he (Chang) has an intense emotional attachment to Tokyo's food scene and that it gives him perpetual pleasure. And that's great, for him. For anyone curious of his claims, just watch Mind of a Chef's Japan episode with David Chang, it's a marvel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cJm1zny0Bw
PS: Yes, I'm French, from Paris, and just as fucking biased as he is.