“Honestly, there is no restaurant in New York right now that gives me more pleasure than Momofuku,” wrote Alison Cook of the Houston Chronicle in April, when chef David Chang was named one of Food & Wine magazine’s best new chefs. Upon reading this, I realized that there is no restaurant in New York–and few restaurants in Seattle–that gives me more pleasure than Momofuku. This is despite the fact that I haven’t been to New York in five years and Momofuku opened in 2005.

Momofuku is a Japanese noodle shop in the East Village. It’s not expensive, and they don’t take reservations. David Chang is the man because:

* He seems to love pork even more than I do. His pork buns are legendary, and as he told Food & Wine, “There’s pork fat in just about everything at Momofuku.” He serves pork from several heirloom producers. Benton’s country ham with masa cakes, red-eye gravy, poached egg, and scallions. Braised Metzger Berkshire pork belly with daikon, pickled mustard seed, apple.

* Everything he serves, from brussels sprouts with kimchi puree to oxtail soup with rice cakes and roasted onions, sounds spectacularly delicious.

I can tell that if I ever eat at Momofuku, it’s going to become my favorite restaurant in the world. Do you have a restaurant that you love but have never been to?

Tonight I made my first Chang recipe: corn with bacon and miso butter. It’s from the October issue of Gourmet. I used some late-season Alvarez Farm corn and slab bacon from Bavarian Meats. Chang seems to share my feeling that the most delicious things you can eat are vegetables flavored with meat. Here’s the recipe, which was every bit as good as you’d expect.

**CORN WITH BACON AND MISO BUTTER**
Serves 4
Adapted from David Chang, Momofuku

1/4 pound bacon, cut into lardons
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon white miso
1 small onion, halved and thinly sliced
10 ears corn, kernels removed from cobs (see note)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions
salt and freshly ground pepper

1. In a large skillet, cook the lardons over medium heat until crisp. Remove the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain, reserving the fat in the pan.

2. Add the onions to the pan and cook until wilted and golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add corn and raise heat to medium-high. Cook until the kernels begin to brown, stirring occasionally. When the bottom of the pan is dark-brown and sticky, you’ll know it’s time to proceed.

3. Stir the miso and butter together and add to the pan with the water. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until water is mostly evaporated and corn is tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in bacon, scallions, and salt and pepper to taste, and serve immediately.

**NOTE:** I had three ears of corn, so I halved the rest of the ingredients. So if you don’t have ten whole ears, which is a lot of corn, go ahead and make it anyway.