Months after hearing about Melody’s dining experience at Momofuku Ko, I just had to try the experience myself. Meaning “child,” Ko is the smallest of David Chang’s restaurants in NYC, and features an online-only reservation system. We waited at my computer at 9:59am exactly 7 days before our planned reservation, and crossing our fingers that my DSL connection is stable, successfully scored 2 spots for dinner last night. Our spectacular meal began with an amuse trio with tiny sweet corn raviolis, crispy Mirin-soaked black pepper buttermilk biscuits that oozed oil from below, and airy chicharron with Togarashi salt. This was followed by a refreshing diver scallop sashimi with pineapple vinegar, fresh water chesnut and crispy ham. The cold dashi soup was accompanied by raw sugar snap pea pods (with the peas shelled and replaced!), pea pod stems, cucumber, Santa Barbara uni – one of few rare instances where urchin does NOT taste like sewage. Next was a warm, richly-flavored concoction of lightly-smoked egg with Hackleback caviar, onion soubise, fingerling potato chips and purple sweet potato vinegrette. This was followed by a satisfying suped-up congee – a saffron Korean jook with Louisiana crawfish, chinese sausage, fresh chopped fennel, dill, and lime zest. We also witnessed the impressive live preparation of a soft-shell crab, coated with flour and pan-fried, and served on a bed of curly celery ribbons (raw but soaked in ice water to curl them) and hearts of palm pickled in lemon juice with an old bay brown butter sauce. Then, the famed shaved frozen foie gras over lychee, Riesling gelee, and pine nut brittle, which Melody said at first glance looked like saw dust, then when stirred looked like a hot mess, but when ingested was an amazing blend of flavors and textures that’s like “a party in my mouth and everyone’s invited!” The main meat was a beef short rib (cooked sous vide for a few days and then quickly deep fried for a crust, producing a texture of tenderness with epic proportions) with “spring allium” (a.k.a. onions) – grilled scallions, leeks puree, raw sweet onions, and sliced pickled mini red onions topped with a red wine sauce. Our desserts were a cantalope sorbet on lemon verbena ice, and rhubarb with olive oil creme fraiche sorbet, black pepper crunchies, and black pepper ganache (which tasted like a paste version of the buttermilk biscuit). The overall atmosphere was a pure celebration of food and its creation – bar seating with 12 stools around an open kitchen with no fancy decor, three chefs taking turns to describe each dish, and a mixture of music from country to rock to Beach Boys. We walked away, happy and smiling.