Chef David Chang of Momofuku fame will swap his apron for a mic during the Winter Olympic games in PyeongChang, South Korea next year, where he will serve as a special food and culture correspondent for NBC. To complement the network's sports coverage, Chang, a second-generation Korean American restaurateur, will host segments exploring the country's rich culinary heritage, reports entertainment site Variety.
Chang's Momofuku brand is present in New York, Washington DC, Las Vegas, Toronto and Sydney, Australia.
NBC Sports has already filmed several segments with Chang that include a look at modern K-food (Korean food) in the streets of Seoul, vegetarian temple cuisine, and one of the two South Korean restaurants to hold three Michelin stars, reports Variety.
Chang also visits Jeju, where he meets the island's famous community of Haenyeo, female divers, some in their 80s, who dive up to 10 m below the sea to gather shellfish and sea urchin without using oxygen masks. The Culture of Jeju Haenyeo was inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list in 2016.
"The food experience is paramount to understanding any culture, but it seems especially to be the case in Korea," NBC Olympics production and programming president Jim Bell told Variety. "We wanted to have someone unpack that for us, and David is the right guy."
Chang is also the recipient of five James Beard Awards, and Momofuku Ko in New York holds two Michelin stars.
The 2018 Winter Olympics run Feb. 9 to 25, 2018.
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