So claims Chef David Chang, basically, in a new editorial for Lucky Peach:
What’s happened to ramen in the past decade is a microcosm of the larger food world. In 2003, when I was working at Café Boulud, the other cooks and I used to go down to wd~50 after service just to look at the menu and try to envision what the food might look like. That’s how it used to be before the Internet; you would still go to restaurants, look at their menu, and just imagine. You’d order ramen books from Japan and wait weeks for them to arrive, so you could pore over the photos from across the planet.
Now the Internet’s changed everything. People can get all the information they want instantaneously, and that has killed innovation in ramen.
The Internet exploded in the 2000s, and with it came the ramen boom in Japan. Suddenly, ramen became the very establishment it once stood against. A variety of magazines and websites arose, solely dedicated to ramen. Everyone could learn everything about it. Anyone can read the Lucky Peach ramen issue and possess information that’s taken decades to develop and accumulate.
Great, first the internet ruined San Francisco, now it’s ruined ramen. Thanks a lot, internet.
Read on for more gripes and stuff.
David Chang used to like ramen, but now it’s all mainstream like noodle soup.
Chang is such a poser. San Mateo alone had 3 ramen shops in 2004. But no, it didn’t exist until he invented bacon dashi. Sure. And ramen burritos are someone else’s fault instead of his. Absolutely!
There are so many ramen places in San Mateo now that I had to stop and think which ones you meant.
Ramen Dojo
Ramen Parlor
Oidon
Himawari
Kagura
Aji-Sen
Santa Ramen
Yu-Raku
And that isn’t counting the izakayas that may have a bowl on the menu.
What a complete jack off
The most quintessential documentation of a hipster foodie stereotype I’ve ever encountered. I think Chang should read things on the Internet more often so he can avoid sounding like a dismissible snob. Thanks for ruining ramen, Obama!
I am still waiting in line for my J-Pop ramen, thanks Obama.
At this point, I think Chang is playing the part of a stereotype for the money, much as Bourdain is — to avoid real work. Lesson learned, and at my age, I have to approve. The feet and knees really hurt.