Omnivore - Chasing Chang

In case you missed it, there was a kerfuffle over the weekend as Atlanta Cuisine’s Tom Maicon reported that the ever-disappearing Peter Chang was back cooking at Tasty China in Marietta. Chang has been the subject of much adoration and national wonderment over the past month, with articles about him in the March 1 issues of the Oxford American and the New Yorker. On Sunday, his whereabouts became questionable, with Food & Wine’s Kate Krader (who was obviously in Atlanta for the weekend) Tweeting that a friend of hers had called Tasty China and been informed that he was gone. But reports also came in on Twitter that Chang was in the restaurant. Having a touch of the Chang fanaticism in me, I stopped in last night to see what was up. Chang was there, but as Maicon is now reporting on AC, he’s not there for long. Tasty China’s owner told me that Chang was there on “vacation.” When I asked if he was planning to come back, he said, “You never know with Chang,” and laughed.

Maicon says they are contemplating opening a higher-end restaurant together, but that it wouldn’t be for some time. I wouldn’t count on that exact project coming through (too predictable for Chang to say he’s going to do something and then actually show up), although it’s great to know that his ties to Georgia still exist.

As Maicon also stated, most of the food being served at the restaurant over the weekend was not Chang’s cooking (except, of course, the 18 courses Maicon ate). There were a couple of specials though, that you had to inquire about to have the honor of buying, that smacked of those early, electric Tasty China days.