ELE Sound Bites
"SOME COOKS ONLY KNOW HOW TO COOK DELICIOUS FOOD"
Momofuku's David Chang and his talented crew of cooks are folks that seem to only know how to cook delicious food. So it should be no surprise that the brand new Momofuku Ssam Bar (there's supposed to be two dots, an umlaut, over the a in Ssam, but I can't figure out how to put it in), opening tomorrow (Wed.) at noon, serves food I would happily eat every day if it were in my neighborhood. A ssam translates in Korean into wrapped food of any kind. So what kind of wrap did I try last night? Black beans flavored with ham hocks, kimchee puree that didn't taste like any fermented cabbage salad I'd ever had before, whipped tofu that was as creamy as sour cream, rice, and toothsome Berkshire roast pork. It was the ultimate Korean burrito. I also had phenomenal chicken and pork buns, similar to the ones you get at Momofuku, but made with braised and shredded meat instead, and a vegetarian salad with roasted mushrooms that had me believing there was meat in there somewhere as I wrapped it in a whole lettuce leaf . Think of Momofuku Ssam Bar as a Korean-American version of a Chipotle Grill (and that's a compliment). And unlike Momofuku there's even a few tables for those of us old fogies who like to eat facing one another.
207 Second Avenue at 13th St. 212-254-3500.
