Latest news with #MomofukuSeiobo
The Age
06-08-2025
- Business
- The Age
What Momofuku's Paul Carmichael did next – and how Australia lost one of its best chefs to New York
Earlier this year, New York City got something that Australia should have had: A new Paul Carmichael restaurant. Kabawa, on Manhattan's Lower East Side, isn't exactly what Carmichael envisioned when he was trying to find partners, funding and space in Sydney during the years after two-hatted Momofuku Seiobo closed in 2021. But the basic building blocks are the same: something fun, an exploration of Caribbean flavours and history, rum drinks, and Carmichael's particular brand of exuberance and singular cooking. The chef was lured back to the US to work once again for Momofuku, the company that brought him to Australia in the first place. In New York, he's been given the opportunity to create a space and menu that fully unleashes his creativity. Bar Kabawa, a 20-seat room adjacent to the main space, opened in early February serving Daiquiris, wine and snacks. On March 25, Kabawa opened, serving a prix-fixe menu that celebrates the foodways of the Caribbean in intensely personal and thoughtful dishes. Less than six weeks later, it appeared at No.4 on the New York Times' list of the 100 best restaurants in the city. The reviews have been rapturous: The New Yorker's Helen Rosner called it easygoing and joyous; new New York Times critic Ligaya Mishan gave Kabawa a rare three-star revie w last month. All of this is cause for celebration, to see a talented chef get his due. But for food lovers in Australia, it should also be frustrating, because what Carmichael really wanted after Seiobo closed was a chance to open something as personal, standard-setting and excellent as Kabawa is, but in Sydney.
Sydney Morning Herald
06-08-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
What Momofuku's Paul Carmichael did next – and how Australia lost one of its best chefs to New York
Earlier this year, New York City got something that Australia should have had: A new Paul Carmichael restaurant. Kabawa, on Manhattan's Lower East Side, isn't exactly what Carmichael envisioned when he was trying to find partners, funding and space in Sydney during the years after two-hatted Momofuku Seiobo closed in 2021. But the basic building blocks are the same: something fun, an exploration of Caribbean flavours and history, rum drinks, and Carmichael's particular brand of exuberance and singular cooking. The chef was lured back to the US to work once again for Momofuku, the company that brought him to Australia in the first place. In New York, he's been given the opportunity to create a space and menu that fully unleashes his creativity. Bar Kabawa, a 20-seat room adjacent to the main space, opened in early February serving Daiquiris, wine and snacks. On March 25, Kabawa opened, serving a prix-fixe menu that celebrates the foodways of the Caribbean in intensely personal and thoughtful dishes. Less than six weeks later, it appeared at No.4 on the New York Times' list of the 100 best restaurants in the city. The reviews have been rapturous: The New Yorker's Helen Rosner called it easygoing and joyous; new New York Times critic Ligaya Mishan gave Kabawa a rare three-star revie w last month. All of this is cause for celebration, to see a talented chef get his due. But for food lovers in Australia, it should also be frustrating, because what Carmichael really wanted after Seiobo closed was a chance to open something as personal, standard-setting and excellent as Kabawa is, but in Sydney.
