For the first time ever, Texans can get a taste of chef David Chang’s food from home. A delivery-only brand named Fuku will serve fried chicken sandos and fries from two kitchens in Dallas and one in Plano starting on April 6, 2021.
Chang is a James Beard Award-winning chef who started his first restaurant, Momofuku Noodle Bar, in 2004 in New York City. Since then, he’s grown his empire to restaurants in New York; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Sydney, Australia; and Toronto, Canada. He’s also made a name for himself as the foul-mouthed, happy-go-lucky chef on the TV series The Mind of a Chef or the Netflix show Ugly Delicious.
Fuku is described by its CEO Alex Muñoz-Suarez as a “cousin” to Chang’s original restaurant, Momofuku. Fuku has a tiny menu — just five sandwiches, two chicken-finger options, and fries — and was created to reach thousands of people at home. It’s a “ghost kitchen,” which means it’s a delivery-only concept with no dining room.
Fuku started as a pilot program in Miami and New York City and has now grown to Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and more. Fuku’s staff partnered with a company called Reef Technology to launch the kitchens, and they use Uber Eats, DoorDash, Grubhub, and Postmates for delivery.
”Dave is fascinated with delivery,” Muñoz-Suarez says. This is Chang’s company’s third try at it, after delivery concepts called Maple and Ando launched in the past few years.
“Dave and I don’t like to give up; this is definitely something we believe in. The delivery models have worked throughout Asia for many years,” the CEO says.
Fuku partnered with Reef in April 2020, “at the height of COVID,” Muñoz-Suarez says.
“Everybody pivoted that way [toward delivery], but honestly, we had done a lot of our homework prior to that,” he says.
Interestingly, all the ghost kitchens in the Dallas and Plano areas will reside in parking garages or inside parking lots; that’s Reef’s model.
Muñoz-Suarez says every item on Fuku’s menu is “blessed” by Chang — an important bit of information for Dave Chang superfans.
The three kitchens launching on April 6 in North Texas are near UT Southwestern in the medical district; in downtown Dallas; and in west Plano.
Fuku will also start delivering food from two kitchens in the Houston area on April 6, with two more kitchens added on April 7. By the end of May, the CEO plans to have six operating kitchens in Dallas and its suburbs and six more in the Houston area.
Starting April 6, customers can check here to see if they’re within delivery range. The food is expected to be available for delivery in North Texas in late afternoon/early evening on April 6, says a spokesman.
To celebrate the launch, customers in Texas get free delivery via Uber Eats through April 30.
Opening-day sales for Fuku in Dallas, Plano and Houston will be donated to Southern Smoke Foundation, a group started by Houston chef Chris Shepherd that helps people in need in the food and drink industry. Fun fact: It’s the same group Chang donated $1 million to after winning the top prize on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? in late 2020.
Find details at eatfuku.com/menu/.
