The Dave Chang Show

Latest Episodes:

Sneaking in Nutrition When You’re Cooking for Kids | Clean Plate Club Aug 15, 2022

Show notes

Every parent dreams of giving their kids a perfect mix of the delicious and the nutritious—but once those kids begin to get other ideas about what they’d like to eat, the most important ingredient might be a little misdirection. With the help of our friends at buybuy BABY, Dave and Chris present our second Clean Plate Club summit on the highs and lows of surreptitious nutrition. Plus: parent theory vs. parent reality, bento box success rates, Dave’s case for chocolate milk, pre-K peer pressure, emergency SPAM, dolsot bibimbap, taking Hugo to McDonald’s, tantric parenting, and Chris’s highly effective sneaky meatball method.

Hosts: Dave Chang and Chris Ying

Producer: Sasha Ashall

Additional Production: Jordan Bass, Noelle Cornelio, and Lala Rasor

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Dave’s Birthday, Over-Ordering, and a Definitive Diet-Beverage Ranking | My Opinion Is Fact Aug 11, 2022

Show notes

There’s no better way to celebrate Dave Chang’s forty-fifth trip around the sun than an end-of-summer MOIF, featuring such hot-button topics as: Mike Birbiglia, a flawless visit to Providence, mid-meal malingering, touching the stew, Dion Waiters, dish traffic control, the In-N-Out-order phantom zone, shrimp heads, seasonal restaurants, Midwest supper clubs, fear of teenagers, and the farmers’ market hummus guy Hydra.

Hosts: Dave Chang and Chris Ying

Guest: Noelle Cornelio

Producer: Sasha Ashall

Additional Production: Jordan Bass and Lala Rasor

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Into the Order-Ticket Matrix Aug 08, 2022

Show notes

Before Neo learned to read the green rain of code that made up the Matrix, before even Sherlock Holmes devised a way to describe a man based on a glance at a forgotten walking stick, restaurant kitchen staff were doing pretty much the same thing every time a new order ticket came into their kitchens. Dave, Chris, and Noelle dig into what can be gleaned from those black-and-white lines listing entrées and appetizers and share a few stories about how it's gone right and wrong for them, before Dave lays out a guide for diners who want to do better, and pulls back the curtain on the rare jewel that is the Money Piece.Host: Dave Chang and Chris Ying

Guest: Noelle Cornelio

Producer: Chelsea Stark-Jones

Additional Production: Jordan Bass and Chris Sutton

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Dave's Ramen Origin Story, Chewing Our Way Through Language Barriers, and Tips for Seeking Out the Delicious Aug 04, 2022

Show notes

Food may be a universal language, but how much gets lost in translation when you're eating in a place where you're not a native speaker? Dave shares a few of his recent linguistic travails, and compares notes with Noelle and Chris, before revisiting the rural Osaka ramen-shop moment that very likely changed his life. Also: Dave as the Park's BBQ shepherd, locals-only restaurants, a return to Duck House, Chris in Las Vegas, inauspicious fork drops, velveting the shrimp, doing whatever it takes to win over the waiter, OG smørrebrød, Golden Century, Hop Woo's trilingual menu, and Dave's tips for avoiding the tourist tax.

Hosts: Dave Chang and Chris Ying

Guest: Noelle Cornelio

Producer: Mike Wargon

Additional Production: Jordan Bass and Lala Rasor

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Cooking Tips, French Fry Rankings, and Restaurants That Celebrate the Absurd Aug 01, 2022

Show notes

On a bounteous, bento box-style multi-segment episode, Dave delves into a few recent home-cooking successes before turning to a whirlwind assessment of the fast-food french fry landscape (23:00) and finishing off with a few ways forward for restaurants in our image-saturated age (41:45). Also discussed: cultural chewiness preferences, Dave's favorite protein, family-friendly jangjorim, mapo tofu, 'Top Gun', 'The Birth of Tragedy', Jean-Georges's steakhouse, the next dining hotbeds, and making food that people will wait in the rain for.

Host: Dave Chang

Producers: Jordan Bass and Lala Rasor

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52 Dishes Jul 28, 2022

Show notes

On an episode for the ages, Dave Chang takes us through a full deck of unforgettable dishes—the ones he never stops thinking about. He covers 50-plus brushes with culinary perfection, from childhood up through trips to Tokyo and Texas and Sao Paulo and Mumbai. It's a core-memory highlight reel like no other, the benchmarks Dave uses to measure everything else, never assembled in one place beyond his brain—until now.

Host: Dave Chang

Producers: Jordan Bass and Lala Rasor

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Dave’s Home Alone, How Food Follows Fashion, and a Reality-Altering Moment at Noma Tokyo Jul 25, 2022

Show notes

Did one ramen chef’s last-minute decision to photograph the very first service at Noma Tokyo's pop-up … irreversibly change the course the restaurant world has been on ever since? To investigate, Dave sends roving correspondent Chris Ying to talk to Ivan Orkin himself about the day in question—and then hunts for parallels in the far reaches of high fashion. Also: the state of Dave’s fridge, solo eating at home, Shakey’s PIzza, pickled jalapeños, pork chop prep, Margaret Zhang, Art Culinaire, setting up a tripod in the dining room, Moleskine sketches, the Ko black hole, and the diner-photographer Uncertainty Principle.

Hosts: Dave Chang and Chris Ying

Guest: Ivan Orkin

Producer: Sasha Ashall

Additional Production: Jordan Bass and Lala Rasor

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The Most Memorable Meals Dave Has Ever Had, the Power of Not Knowing, and the Lure of the List Jul 21, 2022

Show notes

How the heck are we supposed to figure out where to eat in 2022 anyway? On the heels of an unforeseen but absurdly good Peking duck dinner, Dave and Chris consider the ever-expanding restaurant-recommendation complex, and the risks and rewards of going off the grid. Plus: mummy innards, not watching the trailer, crispy shrimp, the penicillin principle, Ben Wallace, eating turbot at Elkano, an L.A. restaurant trinity, Dave in Japan, Kappabashi yakitori, Oriental Garden, on-set lunch, overlooking the good-to-great, and the culinary version of Jimi Hendrix.

Hosts: Dave Chang and Chris Ying

Producer: Sasha Ashall

Additional Production: Jordan Bass and Lala Rasor

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Astrophysics, What’s Good, and a Double-Take-Worthy Dispatch from Atlanta Jul 18, 2022

Show notes

After spending the first half of the show grappling with the existential questions, from the prehistory of the known universe to the future of going out to eat, Dave and Chris collect some on-the-ground intel from two longtime experts on life in the ATL: Stephen Satterfield and, of course, Steven Satterfield. Also covered: Gaten Matarazzo, Ina Garten, physicist sellouts, infinite Big Bangs, Fishman Lobster Clubhouse, good meals at bad restaurants, Noma Tokyo, Copenhagen Chinese food, fried mozzarella and caviar, fast-forwarding through the scary parts, and Chris moving to LA.

Hosts: Dave Chang and Chris Ying

Guests: Stephen Satterfield and Steven Satterfield

Producer: Sasha Ashall

Additional Production: Jordan Bass and Lala Rasor

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Are We In or Out on In-N-Out? Jul 14, 2022

Show notes

In-N-Out Burger has had an almost unparalleled run as one of the most beloved operations in the western U.S., but there’s still one holdout rolling doubtfully past the drive-thru. His name is Dave Chang. Dave, Chris, and Noelle break down what In-N-Out does so well, and why he can’t just let love in. Also discussed: all-out waffles, North Korean noodles, Dave’s Park’s BBQ order, Southern California mumbo-jumbo, small-town athleticism, jalapeño poppers, the perfect iceberg lettuce, eating a hamburger at 10:30 a.m., Noelle’s In-N-Out instructions, data-driven drive-thrus, faith-based French fry preferences, the world’s tiniest toaster oven, orbital ordering systems, the In-N-Out Art of War, and the best thing to eat in your car.

Hosts: Dave Chang and Chris Ying

Guest: Noelle Cornelio

Producer: Sasha Ashall

Additional Production: Jordan Bass and Lala Rasor

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