Dave Chang vs. San Francisco - Part II

As you may have already heard, last weekend’s New York City Wine & Food Festival featured two very high-profile Manhattan-based food stars sharing unflattering observations about San Francisco chefs. At a Times Talk, Anthony Bourdain called Alice Waters “Pol Pot in a muumuu.” And Momofuku’s David Chang—in another conversation with Bourdain entitled “I call BS”—said that “…every restaurant in San Francisco is serving figs on a plate with nothing on it.” Apparently some SF chefs aren’t happy with that characterization: The Asia Society cancelled a book signing event to promote Chang’s soon-to-be-out Momofuku cookbook because that comment irritated some participating cooks. For his part, Chang calls it a misunderstanding that he wants to clear up. On the other hand: "I'm never gonna open a place in San Francisco, " he says. Of course, at F&W, we love Chang unconditionally: He and his outstanding recipes for Thanksgiving leftovers are featured in our brand-new November issue.