LEO's Eats with Robin Garr
Chef Edward Lee’s insanely popular new restaurant MilkWood at Actors Theatre of Louisville reminds me more than a little of Chef David Chang’s acclaimed Momofuku Ssäm Bar and other Momofuku eateries in New York, Toronto and Sydney, but I think MilkWood has the potential to be even better.
Not only do these restaurants tap a similar creative vein, but Louisville’s Lee and New York’s Chang have even more in common. They’re in the same generation: Chang is 35, Lee 40. Both grew up in Korean-American families in New York City and both are passionate about creative cooking that’s rooted in their heritage but meets and mingles with international flavors.
Both are media chefs gaining a reputation beyond their towns. Lee nabbed a spot on “Top Chef” and beat the Iron Chef on “Iron Chef America”; he’s a finalist in the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef Southeast category again this year. Chang has published celebrity-style cookbooks and is featured on Anthony Bourdain’s “Mind of a Chef” series on PBS. (In that role, by the way, Chang and Lee have met and shared sips of Pappy Van Winkle’s Kentucky nectar with Bourdain while the cameras rolled.)
MilkWood is no mere clone of Momofuku, though. Named after the Dylan Thomas play “Under Milkwood,” it has a personality all its own, and that personality is clearly defined by Lee’s inspiration and style.
For one thing, the space below the Actors Theatre’s lobby holds about 100 diners at maximum capacity, making it about six times larger than Chang’s intentionally tiny spots. And while Chang’s eateries are self-consciously downscale — simple noodle shops with not-so-simple fare — MilkWood is simply elegant and stylish, a character it shares with 610 Magnolia, where Lee has presided as co-owner and chef since 2003.
But when 25 of those diners line up on backless stools around MilkWood’s L-shaped bar, sampling what Lee calls “comfort bar food with an Asian pantry,” they might get a Momofuku-like vibe if they don’t look around and see a bunch more diners relaxing in comfortable booths and chairs at attractive butcher-block tables.
Lee suffered a spectacular fail with his last venture out from 610, the short-lived Potstickers on Baxter Avenue. A tiny venue in the Momofuku style, it lasted only a few months and apparently suffered because Lee’s inspiration wasn’t backed by Lee’s supervision. I don’t expect him to repeat that mistake: I’m told he’s giving both restaurants close attention and relying on trusted chefs in both kitchens: Kevin Ashworth at MilkWood, Nick Sullivan at 610.
Read the full review on LouisvilleHotBytes,
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/milkw ... nly-better
And in LEO Weekly:
http://leoweekly.com/dining/milkwood-re ... nly-better
MilkWood
Actors Theatre of Louisville
316 W. Main St.
584-6455
http://actorstheatre.org/milkwood
Rating: 94
Sorry we didn't see you, Brad.