Momofuku Group has ventured beyond its traditional restaurants such as Noodle Bar, Ma Peche, Milk Bar and even QSR Fuku, into the emerging delivery-only business with its latest launch: Ando. The app-based concept is delivering proprietary meals that fit into the group’s culinary realm—with Korean barbecue bibimbap as well as fried chicken—daily in Midtown Manhattan, with plans to expand its reach soon.
But the group isn’t shifting its focus entirely to the delivery and casual lanes. It opened its newest 200-seat Momofuku outpost in the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas earlier this year, embracing Sin City-style neon lights and graffitied wall murals.
Chef and founder David Chang has previously admitted that cooking doesn’t come naturally to him, but he compensates by thinking about food. This has allowed him see patterns in successes in order to drive innovation.
As it grows, Momofuku Group wants to keep pushing the envelope. Booker and Dax, its food-science development arm, tests techniques and technologies, many of which can be seen at its namesake bar (which is moving locations). Chang also worked with a Silicon Valley startup this summer on a plant-based meatless burger, which appeared at Nishi.
“[Momofuku’s pork bun] became my yardstick: I’d ask, ‘Is this dish good enough to come downtown and wait in line for?’ If not, it’s not what we’re after.” —David Chang, to Wired in July
Concepts: Ando, Booker and Dax, CCDC, Fuku, Ko, Ma Peche, Milk Bar, Nishi, Noodle Bar, Ssam Bar