Momofuku chef David Chang hosts ‘The Next Thing You Eat’ on Hulu
Yes, David Chang stands as a giant among chefs with his ever-expanding Momofuku restaurant empire.
Last December he was the first celebrity winner of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” (the money went to Southern Smoke Foundation, his favorite charity)
Now he is co-creator, host and producer of Hulu’s sixepisode future of food series “The Next Thing You Eat.”
Provocative and pointed, “Next Thing” examines new terrain in each episode, from the “Rise of the Machines” with robot pizzamakers and drone delivery to asking how will burgers, among the globe’s most popular foods, exist in 30 years. Will they be lab-created cells that mimic beef burgers?
“This was born out of the pandemic. I talked to Morgan Neville” — his series’ co-creator, the Oscar winning documentary director of “20 Feet from Stardom” and the recent “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain.”
“Talking with him and his team, which we just normally do because we’re friends, it was about the state of the world and how hard, depressing the world was looking March of 2020.
“We wanted to just talk about it and document it and we’re incredibly grateful that Hulu gave us the opportunity to pursue this path.”
Chang, 44, was hoping with a look around at various food future-related subjects, “there would be so much light at the end of the tunnel.”
That led to his talking with “entrepreneurs, journalists, the scientists, the chefs to see what might be around the corner.
“It’s not all bad at all,” he concluded. “Actually, the main reason why we wanted to have the show was to start the conversation about the future.
“Not be prescriptive, not saying, This is what is going to happen. There’s nothing definitive about it. It’s presenting some of the things that we think that can certainly be other things, other inventions, other movements.
“If we don’t know what they are, let’s start talking about this and how it might have implications and repercussions in the way we eat and the world at large.
“The one prescription that we have,” he said, “is that we need to be better custodians of the world around us that in different ways produce delicious things.”
Does he see a doomed McDonald’s in the future?
“No. Absolutely not. McDonald’s isn’t going away. I think all they’re going to do is use this new raw (non-cow meat) product. In some ways it’s still gonna look the same. It’s just going to be made with ingredients that are not what we are eating today.”
“The Next Thing You Eat” streams Wednesday.