David Chang on the long, hard, stupid way – Herbert Lui

The Nugget

David Chang emphasizes that true craftsmanship in cooking often requires taking the long, hard, and sometimes seemingly stupid path, driven by personal integrity and a commitment to quality. This commitment shapes both the cooking process and the restaurant's culture.

Make it stick

🍳 Integrity in Cooking: The chef's challenge is teaching cooks to choose the long way, emphasizing skills over shortcuts.
🚫 No Cheating Allowed: The presentation of dishes matters; even if no one would know, integrity must drive decisions.
🍽️ Quality Over Convenience: The success of Chang's restaurants stems from prioritizing quality and maintaining high standards, regardless of the flow of service.
✍️ Writing for Growth: Creating long-form content, akin to cooking, aids in honing one's skills and improving overall output.

Personal integrity is crucial in the kitchen; decisions made without supervision must still align with high standards.
Cheating for convenience undermines personal growth and craftsmanship.

Chang shares a specific dish (whole boiled chicken) that exemplifies complexity and coordination in cooking.
A recent team decision to create a “presentation chicken” sparked concern about the potential decline in quality and restaurant culture.

Chang stresses maintaining a workplace culture that values effort over shortcuts, fearing stagnation if complacency sets in.
The philosophy of quality contributes significantly to the Momofuku brand's success and reputation.

Chang parallels this philosophy to other creative endeavors, like writing, where investing time and effort leads to personal and professional improvement.

"Just because we’re a casual restaurant, doesn’t mean we don’t hold ourselves to fine dining standards."
"I have to try to create an environment where I’m trying to get that Cook to take the long stupid way."
"What concerned me was the precedent we were setting."
"The dish was meant to be a difficult pickup that required constant coordination between the front and back of house."
"I write because I think it will help me with all of the non-writing parts of writing."

This summary contains AI-generated information and may have important inaccuracies or omissions.