David Chang’s Má Pêche Shutters Tonight

Today marks the closure of Má Pêche, culinary superstar David Chang’s Midtown restaurant that vacillated between exciting and sleepy in its eight-year run, as well as Fuku+, the souped-up version of his fast-casual fried chicken chain. Dessert shop Milk Bar will remain open in the Chambers Hotel, which housed the three Momofuku ventures.

Má Pêche opened at 15 West 56th St. between Fifth and Sixth avenues in 2010 and over the years featured French-Vietnamese, American, and dim sum, depending on the chef in charge. It was generally always well-received, with two stars from both Eater critic Ryan Sutton and then-Times critic Sam Sifton. But the restaurant never found quite the same cult following as Ko, Ssäm Bar, or Noodle Bar.

Though Momofuku has not provided a solid reason for the closure, Chang hinted at trouble in 2016 when he tweeted that the additional security around Trump tower was “killing restaurant foot traffic” on 56th Street.

The idea is to reshuffle Má Pêche’s 75 employees to other restaurants in the Momofuku empire, primarily an upcoming second location of Noodle Bar in Time Warner Center. Chang also has another Midtown restaurant coming in 2019, at the Hudson Hards development on the far West Side, as well as one in the Seaport District.

• All Coverage of Má Pêche [ENY]