David Chang: “How to eat like a local—anywhere!”
Celebrity chef David Chang lives to eat—not least when he travels. Here, he reveals the best cities in the world for dining, and the spot he flew to for a last-minute reservation
For chef and media personality David Chang, the entire motivation to travel is to eat. “My friends are dumbfounded, like, ‘Wait, everything you’re doing is based around eating?’” he laughs. “You need to prepare: You probably need to lose five to 10 pounds, for the five or 10 pounds you’re going to gain. It’s training. You’ve got to take it seriously.”
To him, San Sebastián in Spain’s Basque Country is “one of those places; you’re going specifically to eat. It’s got cultural things but, really, the culture is eating.”
The mastermind behind Momofuku—with restaurants in New York, L.A. and Las Vegas—Chang has won five James Beard Awards, and he also created the Netflix series Ugly Delicious, which followed his search for the world’s most satisfying food. And true to his word, he has found culinary inspiration everywhere from Tokyo and Istanbul to the more improbable destination of an airport hotel in Cancun.
Currently based in Los Angeles with his wife Grace and two young sons, his other favorite destination is Japan. “I can go down a rabbit hole talking about where and what to eat,” he says. “I have to eat at [Tokyo steakhouse] Shima the night before I fly back to America. I preorder a steak sandwich, put it in the hotel fridge and eat it on the flight back. That’s my ritual and it’s so goddamn delicious.”
His most memorable meal, however, was at El Bulli in Spain, the ground-breaking fine-dining restaurant that closed in 2011. “I got a last-second reservation and had 12 hours to get my ass to Barcelona. Nothing prepares you. It’s always going to be the most perfect meal I’ve ever had.”
Chang doesn’t believe anyone should be daunted by food on their travels—culinary experiences, he insists, are accessible to anyone. “The more nervous you are, the better. Being nervous is a wonderful sign—it’s not being scared, it just means you’re getting out of your comfort zone. Embrace it.”
He recommends, “Find places where you see the merging of cultures happening, like Mexico City,” says Chang. “It’s very similar to Japan because they’re open to every culture and how it assimilates into their culture. Sushi in Mexico merges with ceviche and the seafood you get on the coast in Sinaloa.
“There are also a lot of Korean people in Mexico City, so you can see how Korean and Mexican food evolve together. That’s what I love, cities with groups of people you wouldn’t expect and seeing how their food is melding with the current cuisine.” Read on for his guide to eating like a local, anywhere.
David Chang’s travel tips
01
Get lost—on purpose
“Spend one day getting completely, utterly lost. Wander around, be curious and eat everything you can. You’re missing special moments if you just follow lists of, ‘This is what you have to eat’—though some restaurants that are hyped are totally worth it. Most cities have one or two restaurants packed with both tourists and locals, like Balthazar in New York or Contramar in Mexico City, so it would be stupid to avoid them simply because that’s where tourists go.”
02
Check out local markets and stores
“It’s one of the best things to do, because that’s how everyone eats—most people don’t go to restaurants every day. In Istanbul, people don’t buy fish at the supermarket because the fish market is phenomenal. And I just got back from Taiwan and was blown away. I had no idea the produce there was so goddamn perfect.”
03
Seek out unique experiences
“I want food I can only eat in specific places. With globalization, that’s harder, but it’s the most important thing—to experience something you can’t have anywhere else. Istanbul is one of the great eating cities of the world and there are restaurants that could only exist there—you feel the heat of the charcoal, they’re grilling the meat right in front of you. Imagine this ever happening in America! It would never pass fire code.”
David Chang’s guide to Koreatown, LA
01
Keep an open mind
“I just got back from a fishing trip to Cancun, where I stay at the Courtyard by Marriott Airport Hotel specifically to eat a sandwich called the John Borda—I’ve no idea why it’s called that, but it’s a cheesesteak sandwich with French fries and it’s insanely delicious. I rank it as one of the best sandwiches anywhere in the world. Keep an open mind and you can have great food in places you would least expect, even an airport hotel.”
02
Find a friend
“Do your homework and either find a friend who has lived there, or people that are experts in their towns on social media, and see where they like to go. You get to see how people live and celebrate over food. In New Orleans, there’s a restaurant called Galatoire’s and you don’t want a reservation there. They know tourists have a reservation, so they send them upstairs, but you want to eat downstairs where there are no reservations and you get the full experience.”
Mexico City’s fusion food scene
Mexican + Lebanese
An icon of local street food, tacos al pastor is also the ultimate fusion dish. Inspired by Lebanese immigrants, it marries a shawarma with a taco, swapping lamb for pork and pita bread for a corn tortilla, and adds a Latin American twist with a guajillo chili and annatto spice marinade. It’s the sole item on the menu at El Huequito—and they know what they’re doing because they’ve been at it for more than 60 years. There are outposts across the city, but head to the original site—it’s next to the foodie haven of Mercado San Juan.
Mexican + European + Japanese
Classic European dining meets Mexico, with a healthy dose of Japan thrown in for good measure, at farm-to-table spot Màximo Bistrot. Sample dishes include a risotto with burrata and huitlacoche (corn fungus with a mushroom-like flavor), and kampachi—a sashimi-quality yellowtail fish found in the waters of Baja California—with yuzu koshō (a Japanese chilli paste).
Mexican + South Asian + East African
At Masala y Maíz, find a blend of South Asian, East African, and Mexican flavors from Norma and Saqib—partners in both life and cooking. Their restaurant is a true celebration of what can happen when people of different ethnicities come together. With a casual-dinner-party-with-your-greatest-friends vibe, expect such delicacies as makai paka, inspired by both an East African corn dish and local street-food corn, and uttapam, a dosa-style pancake made from Mexican rice and garbanzos.
Mexican + Japanese
Lauded as one of the best seafood restaurants in Latin America, Contramar first had foodies paying attention with their now-legendary tuna tostadas that look to Japan with the use of sashimi-grade tuna, avocado and crispy leeks on a crunchy open taco. Expect everything from tequila shrimp and a red octopus aguachile to pasta with clams and a watercress salad with nopales (aka the paddles of a cactus).
Mexican + Italian
Even the ice cream is fusion food in Mexico City. Joe Gelato is an Italian gelateria that embraces local ingredients, and the list of flavors includes mole; an achiote, corn and seaweed combo; mezcal cream and coffee; and pan de muerto, a sweet bread popular around Day of the Dead. Oh, and forget about almonds or honeycomb—the coating of their gelato bar has large, flying chicatana ants in the chocolate.
Mexican + Korean
The thriving Korean community centered around Pequeño Seúl (Little Seoul) in Zona Rosa is having a huge influence on the food scene in CDMX, and nowhere more so than on the not-so-humble taco. Tizne Tacomotora, a Del Valle restaurant that began life with the chefs serving festivalgoers from a bike cart carrying a traveling meat-smoker, serves stunning Korean barbecue tacos. The kalbi asada sees the meat marinated in miso, garlic and sesame oil, and served on blue corn tortillas.
Lara Kilner is a lifestyle journalist who has contributed to The Times, The Telegraph, and more. She has traveled extensively through five continents, but her most memorable trip was the one on which she met her Malaysian husband.
