Since its introduction into the New York food scene, Momofuku Ko has brought both a feeling of fear and exhiliaration to my otherwise settled stomach. T-Minus 24 Hours: Mental preparation begins. T-Minus 12 Hours: Starvation. T-Minus 0 Hours: Show. No. Fear. 
                         It’s all just preparation for the Amazing Race. 

1. Fair
There is no phone. There are no favorite patrons.  There are no special dishes. There are 14 bar stools and a prix fix menu. You can’t get a Sprite (although I did witness someone try) and you can’t request substitutions. There are so many rules that there are really no rules at all. Well, except one. Come hungry and open-minded. 

2. Amuse
Before you even begin your nine course journey, Ko serves up a mind-blowing black pepper biscuit with mirin glaze, a translucently thin slice of pickled Japanese turnip, head cheese with shiso lemograss and parsely and a a togarashi-dusted chicharon aka very spicy fried pork skin. 

3. Egg
Many come for the egg, and what an egg it is. Imagine a smoked soft-boiled egg (cooked sous vide), Osetra caviar spilling from the yolk, a sweet potato vinegar and crisp crown of tiny potato chips surrounding it. The caviar. Oh the caviar. Oh the egg.

4. Foie Gras
Foie Gras has always been a foe of mine. Yet this sheepish, dainty, rose-colored dish seemed harmless. A bowl of shaved, salty, frozen, pink foie gras torchon with White Riesling gelée, bits of pine-nut brittle and litchi = out of body experience.

5. Braggin’ Rights
I made it through head cheese. carpaccio. fluke. bone marrow. lamb. foie gras. chicken sausage. trout. egg. caviar. Doesn’t that count for something? Well, no, not really because you’d be insane to skip one bite of David Chang’s genius-ness. And in that way, Momofuku is like a train wreck - you know you shouldn’t look, but how can you resist? Snagging a reservation is a feat in itself, so be sure to tell everyone you know about how you, went to Ko. 

NOTE: No photos were allowed so thanks to those I borrowed from.