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| USA TODAY
David Chang says show honors Anthony Bourdain without stealing
Restaurateur and TV personality David Chang says his new Netflix show, “Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner,” pays homage to Anthony Bourdain’s Emmy-winning series “Parts Unknown”. (October 31)
David Chang, Momofuku Group founder, chef, author and TV personality, is the first celebrity to win “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire”.
The trivia game is in its second season of a revamped, celebrity-centric version of the original “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” by Regis Philbin. This season is hosted by Jimmy Kimmel on ABC and features famous candidates playing for charity in addition to frontline workers and others affected by COVID-19.
Following his victory, Chang was able to donate the Southern Smoke Foundation, an organization that provides relief to people working in the food and beverage industry, $ 1 million to help struggling restaurateurs in the middle. from the COVID-19 pandemic, which has had an overwhelming impact on the restaurant industry and forced Chang to close some of his own restaurants.
USA TODAY sat down with Chang (virtually) to discuss the victory and how restaurants are coping amid a pandemic that has infected millions across the country, forcing Americans to stay on the sidelines. home, cancel their trips and change their eating habits. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Question: How does it feel to be the first celebrity to win a million dollars for charity?
David Chang: Honestly, I can’t believe this happened – still haven’t dealt with it. It’s so crazy that I even got to do the show to begin with, but I’m actually mostly in shock that I decided to go for it – what was I thinking?
Q: The idea of continuing on “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” – was that obvious?
Chang: I had to think about it because it was filming. # 1, I wanted to make sure everything was safe, but secondly, it’s something that I grew up watching the very first seasons because it was something that was unlike anything I have never seen. I’m also friends with Jimmy, so that was a plus. I wouldn’t have done it without the charity
Q: How was it on stage throughout the process?
Chang: I am a very stressed person to begin with. I watched that first episode with my wife, and she knows me really well and she’s like, ‘Oh, you really didn’t know that answer,’ and we’re talking about the first five questions.
When you look at it you think to yourself, ‘Of course, that’s the answer’, but when you are in that chair, … all the freshness and rational thought comes out the window.
Q: In addition to choosing his teammates, including Alan Yang and Mina Kimes(each participant is entitled to an expert guest and the option to phone a friend, among other lifelines), how did you prepare?
Chang: I had watched part of the first season last year with Jimmy and tried to answer some of those questions. And I was like, ‘Oh man, I don’t know a lot of these things.’ I (also) started playing the app – the game – and never made it to a million dollars. I was petrified because I just didn’t want to be the first person to lose the first question.
Q: Tell us about the pressure of the final question.
Chang ” When I got to the last question, I was so full of adrenaline that I just decided to go.
At that point I was like the worst-case scenario is $ 32,000 (for Southern Smoke if I’m wrong) and then I’m a laughing stock because half a million dollars for charity is huge. And I was like, man, I don’t wanna lose that $ 468,000, and I remember thinking that would be terrible. But I love to play, and I started to play it in my head.
Then I thought, this is for Southern Smoke, Southern Smoke is for the hospitality industry and we’re going through some horrible times. We’re so in bad shape that half a million dollars is not enough – no more than a million dollars – but I wanted to focus on that and raise awareness of the problem, so it was worth it.
Q: Tell us a bit about Southern Smoke and what they do.
Chang: At the heart of it has always been helping those in need in the restaurant industry who are in need of financial support. Since the pandemic, (Southern Smoke) has shifted to giving money to people who need it because we aren’t getting the support we need at the federal or state level.
Q: COVID-19 has put the restaurant industry in crisis. From your point of view as a restaurateur, how is this managed?
Chang: The real problem is not with me or the restaurants, but the people who work in the restaurants and the fact that they don’t have a safety net. Unfortunately, much of aid is bogged down by politics. We have to help those in need.
Q: What is the trajectory of the position you see now?
Chang: If there is no help, it will get worse. It shouldn’t be like that. We could have been closed and we could have ended that if we had proper governance. But even with a vaccine and even when traveling becomes safer, it has fundamentally changed the way people eat.
Q: How are you handling the pandemic in your own business?
Chang: We discover. We try first and foremost to make sure that we operate in the safest way possible for employees and diners. We have pivoted like all businesses and are focusing a lot of effort on consumer products. We sell salts and spices, soy sauce and other things, and we’re very lucky to have those means. But not everyone does.
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