Where this was said
Five Years at Momofuku: Chefs Were Rock Stars
At 54:53 · chapter starts 52:40
Delivering Alison Roman's question about what restaurant life left behind, Greta takes Amy to Momofuku circa 2007-2012, when David Chang's restaurants were the hottest tables in New York. Greta was the hostess — and the power was real. Telling a guest they'd wait four hours wasn't a time estimate, it was a coded dismissal. She describes the culture where cash bribes and name-dropping didn't work (it was actively discouraged), and where the atmosphere was electric because chefs had become cultural rock stars. She and David Chang are now close friends with kids the same age and living near each other in LA. The discussion circles back to Alison's observation: the restaurant work ethic is permanent. Greta connects 'being in the weeds' with the crushing multitasking demands of a long film shoot.
Greta Lee spent roughly five years working the Momofuku restaurant floor while bouncing in and out of acting jobs. That extreme multitasking — being 'in the weeds' every night — is exactly what performing on set demands, just with a different kind of chaos.
Greta Lee worked on and off for roughly five years at David Chang's Momofuku restaurants in New York, where she was the hostess and was 'basically encouraged to be mean.'
Greta Lee was the hostess at David Chang's Momofuku and was 'basically encouraged to be mean.' Telling walk-ins they'd wait four hours wasn't a time estimate — it was a polite way of saying the table was never coming.
At Momofuku, Greta Lee would tell walk-in guests a four-hour wait time, which functionally meant the restaurant had no intention of seating them.
