Paul Carmichael Confirmed Out at Ma Peche; Heather Machovec Takes His Place

A rumor emerged in late February that Paul Carmichael, the chef at the helm of Momofuku's Midtown outpost, Ma Peche, was packing up and moving to Sydney, Australia, to head up Momofuku Seiobo there. It would make sense – Seiobo's chef at the time, Ben Greeno, was confirmed to be leaving in April. But only now has Momofuku finally confirmed that rumor. Carmichael lands on the other side of the world this month, leaving Ma Peche's kitchens and dim sum carts in the hands of Heather Machovec.

Machovec is getting bumped up from her current position of chef de cuisine at Ma Peche, where she's been since 2014. Before that she worked her way from a position at Ko in 2011 to a role as sous chef at Ssam Bar, and a stint at John Fraser's East Village restaurant, Narcissa.

Carmichael did a lot at Ma Peche since taking the reins as executive chef in 2011. He launched the $95 Kappo tasting menu, to some acclaim, and then oversaw the restaurant's transition to dim sum carts. A year ago Ryan Sutton filed a two star review of his Caribbean-inflected menu. It's unclear for the moment what, if any changes his departure will bring for Ma Peche, but it's likely there won't be any immediately. Just as Carmichael is taking some time to settle in in Sydney, expect Machovec to take some time settling in to her new role.