David Chang > Quotes

“Recovering alcoholics talk about needing to hit rock bottom before they are able to climb out. The paradox for the workaholic is that rock bottom is the top of whatever profession they're in.”
― David Chang, Eat a Peach

“I wanted so badly to please him and my mom. I was simply incapable. What happens when you live with a tiger that you can't please is that you're always afraid.”
― David Chang, Eat a Peach

“work is the last socially acceptable addiction.”
― David Chang, Eat a Peach

“This all raises the question of whether depression is something you can control by simply sucking it up. My answer is no, I don't think you can overcome it with willpower, but I do believe that dealing with depression is a choice that needs to be made. You have to choose to stand up every day and keep going. To reject your default settings.”
― David Chang, Eat a Peach

“I was going to either fail or thrive, and I was going to do it in full view of everyone I respected and resented.”
― David Chang, Eat a Peach

“I believe in han. There's no perfect English-language equivalent for this Korean emotion, but it's some combination of strife or unease, sadness, and resentment, born from the many historical injustices and indignities endured by our people. It's a term that came into use in the twentieth century after the Japanese occupation of Korea, and it describes this characteristic sorrow and bitterness that Koreans seem to possess wherever they are in the world. It is transmitted from generation to generation and defines much of the art, literature, and cinema that comes out of Korean culture.”
― David Chang, Eat a Peach

“True balance is not an average. It is two forces in equal measure.”
― David Chang, Eat a Peach

“But for years, my best coping strategy has been work. I have assumed so many responsibilities and said yes to so many things. Working hard creates my own gravity. The more I work, the more I am on terra firma.”
― David Chang, Eat a Peach

“I began to question the validity of various cultural truths. Who gets to assign value to certain foods? What makes something acceptable or not? Why was MSG villainized in Chinese restaurants but fine when it occurred naturally in Parmesan?”
― David Chang, Eat a Peach

“We humans are more alike in our tastes than we think. Even with completely different tools and ingredients, we’re bound to arrive at the same conclusions.”
― David Chang, Eat a Peach

“You'll always lose when you play someone else's game.”
― David Chang, Eat a Peach

“Change is guaranteed, but growth isn't.”
― David Chang, Eat a Peach

“I think the reason why minority chefs in America find cultural appropriation so upsetting is that we feel obliged to uphold these arbitrary proscriptions, while white chefs do whatever they want. We’re following the rules and they’re not. Most of the time, they didn’t even bother to learn the rules. I decided that I should just start playing the same game.”
― David Chang, Eat a Peach

“But if you've fought depression or know somebody who has, you know that no amount of money can fix it. No amount of fame. No logic. The continuing stigma around suicide and mental illness tells me that not enough people truly understand it. I don't really blame them---its impossible unless you've lived it.”
― David Chang, Eat A Peach

“Organic growth, I always say, means having absolutely no strategy.”
― David Chang, Eat a Peach

“At the time, I thought the point was about representation: there should be more women chefs covered by the food media, just as there should be more people of color. But no, we’re talking about something much more vicious. It’s not just about the glass ceiling or equal opportunity. It’s about people being threatened, undermined, abused, and ashamed in the workplace. It’s embarrassing to admit how long it took me to grasp that.”
― David Chang, Eat a Peach

“If you hold on too tightly to what you have, it'll only hurt more once it's gone”
― David Chang, Eat a Peach

“Make it happen" is the standing order, and "Yes, chef" is the only response.”
― David Chang, Eat a Peach

“The paradox for the workaholic is that rock bottom is the top of whatever profession they’re in.”
― David Chang, Eat a Peach

“I began to understand that what holds us back from culinary progress is often some cultural roadblock that we honor in the name of preservation - the kind of arbitrary roadblock that says, You're not supposed to do that with kimchi.”
― David Chang, Eat a Peach

“The downside to the term tiger parenting entering the mainstream vocabulary is that it gives a cute name to what is actually a painful and demoralizing existence. It also feeds into the perception that all Asian kids are book smart because their parents make it so. Well, guess what. It’s not true. Not all our parents are tiger parents, tiger parenting doesn’t always work, and not all Asian kids are good at school. In fact, not all Asian kids are any one thing. To be young and Asian in America often means fighting a multifront war against sameness.”
― David Chang, Eat a Peach

“I don’t believe in soul mates or the idea that there’s one person on earth for each of us, but when I try to envision someone who might stick with me for the rest of her life, I can only imagine Grace.”
― David Chang, Eat a Peach

“Deliciousness is a meme. Its appeal is universal, and it will spread without consideration of borders or prejudice.”
― David Chang, Eat a Peach

“Just know that this is as honest and true a story as I can offer.”
― David Chang, Eat a Peach

“False cultural constructs tell us that pasta can be expensive, while noodles have to be cheap. The same dichotomy exists between almost any Asian (or African or Latin American) dish and its Western analogue. To me, there is literally no other explanation than racism. Don’t even try to talk to me about how the price differential is a result of service and decor. That shit is paid for by people who are willing to spend money on safe, “non-ethnic” food.”
― David Chang, Eat a Peach

“What stuck with me was the way you describe your addiction to work. I’ve been so used to hearing of depression as something that forces you to do absolutely nothing. But pushing my limits became my drug. It was essentially a form of masochism. 18 years old and I found myself working nonstop for 20 hours a day. I didn’t socialize. I major in computer engineering and spent my day in front of a laptop. I wear glasses now from staring at screens so much. Getting things done let me avoid taking care of myself. I was just “too busy.” 96% of the things you focused on relating to your struggles have caused me to think, “Oh my gosh, it’s not just me!” Frankly, you helped me realize working so hard was a side effect of my depression, a source of control, and not just something other people who didn’t know what was up admired me for.”
― David Chang, Eat a Peach

“I've talked a great deal about the importance of failure as a learning tool, but it's really a privilege to expect people to let us fail over and over again. There are too many dudes in my story in general, and you can still sense my bro-ish excitement when I tell old war stories... It's my truth, which is why I'm leaving them in here, but I wish that some of it were different.”
― David Chang, Eat a Peach

“Man, it was the polar opposite. From the grocery stands and yakitori joints in Japan to the stalls along the hutongs of Beijing, enjoying food was foundational. Dining out was attainable and affordable, a crucial part of daily life. Even in Virginia lower-middle-class Asian families would go out to dinner once a week at a Chinese restaurant. The idea that people with less money could not appreciate better food was a fallacy.”
― David Chang, Eat a Peach

“You simply can't rely on common wisdom in the kitchen. Most of it is built on half-truths and outdated assumptions. Be open to every idea.”
― David Chang, Eat A Peach

“You need to believe more deeply than anyone else. You build a cult by showing everyone that you are willing to go further than all of them to see out your vision. You can't ask everyone else to swallow the Kool-Aid if you're not going to take the first gulp.”
― David Chang, Eat a Peach