High-Profile Ex-Momofuku Chef Already Splits From Rhubarb’s Hudson Yards Restaurants

And just like that, Tien Ho is done with his first NYC project in years. The acclaimed former Momofuku chef has split with Rhubarb, the London-based hospitality company in charge of Hudson Yards restaurant Wild Ink. The relationship will officially end in two weeks, according to a Rhubarb spokesperson, saying that it “just wasn’t the right fit long term.”

“It was such an honor to be a part of opening Hudson Yard for Rhubarb’s first venture into NYC, but we came to realize that it wasn’t a good long term fit for us,” Ho writes in an email.

But the chef will still be working in New York. He will now head up culinary operations at Company, a “tech campus” adjacent to Grand Central Terminal that also acts as a co-working space. It has office space, retail, a gym, plus a bar, a coffee shop, and a restaurant space. The food and drink options will be open to the public.

Earlier this year, Ho — known for being an influential and experimental chef at Ssäm Bar and Má Pêche — signed on to oversee all of Rhubarb’s U.S. projects as culinary director. Wild Ink was the first restaurant in that lineup, but he was also slated to help open a splashy restaurant at the top of the 30 Hudson Yards skyscraper, as well as its event space.

He hasn’t been working in New York since 2015, but before that, Ho was here for 15 years, developing a reputation as one of New York’s most exciting players for his time at Ssäm Bar and the now-closed Má Pêche. He also briefly worked with Gabriel Stulman at the well-regarded, but short-lived Montmarte. After that, he departed to Texas, working for Morgans Hotel Group and then Whole Foods Market.

Meanwhile, Wild Ink will continue on with its opening executive chef, Peter Jin.

This post has been updated with a comment from Tien Ho and Company.