DAVID CHANG WORKS MIDTOWN

This past week was full of the kind of New York summer weather in which everyone visibly gives up on trying to look or smell good, with the exception of a very few. Those few appeared to congregate on a recent Thursday at lunchtime at David Chang’s new midtown restaurant, Má Pêche, which opened last month as the fourth instalment in the Momofuku line of restaurants (it is preceded by Momofuku Noodle Bar, Momofuku Ko, and Momofuku Ssäm Bar).

With Brian Eno on the stereo and chef Tien Ho in the kitchen, Má Pêche is an attempt to transfer the flavour of Chang’s downtown joints to the staid, business-lunch environment of the Chambers Hotel. The menu is written in a mixture of English, French and Vietnamese, which translates into lots of foreign squiggles and dishes like xà lách frisée (frisee with tripe and poached egg) and coquille st. jacques sauté chanh (scallops with brown butter, lime and pea shoots). My companion and I sampled the oysters, which came prettily arranged with a thai basil mignonette, and an appetizer of pork ribs, which was easily generous enough to serve as an entree. A salad of asparagus was dressed delicately with egg yolk, shallots, and strands of crab. Steak frites came with crispy fried rice sticks in place of the frites—golden on the outside and melting within, like Asian-influenced Tater Tots.

For dessert a duo of truffles arrived: cereal milk panna cotta and a miniature version of pastry chef Christina Tosi’s “crack pie” (above), which tastes like a Platonic fusion of butter and brown sugar. Upstairs, a take-out version of Chang’s dessert joint Milk Bar offered up soft serve in salty pistachio caramel flavor (ask for a free sample if you’re noncommittal) as well as cinnamon bun pie and a range of cookies that are crisp on the outside and chewily undercooked at the center. My favourite was the confetti cookie, with rainbow sprinkles and chunks of cake baked right into it. The blueberry & cream flavor ran a close second. It’s all worth the sugar rush.

Má Pêche’s dining space, with its dim lighting and neon accents, is futuristic but not altogether unpleasant. Service is unobtrusive and efficient. Most importantly, Chang has managed to imbue the midtown space with a tranquilised version of his signature good-times vibe. For those few who remain in custody of an expense account, Má Pêche will be a welcome addition to the menu.

~ MOLLY YOUNG

Picture Credit: joyosity (via Flickr)