Marc Bynum Opens Hush Ramen Truck In Farmingdale: 'I Love It'

FARMINGDALE, NY — Hush is back — in the form of a food truck. Chef Marc Anthony Bynum, a three-time "Chopped" champion, has returned to his Farmingdale roots with The Hush Ramen Truck.

The truck, after traveling around, has settled near Costello's Ace Hardware of Farmingdale, at 1102 Broadhollow Road. The hours are set to be noon to 7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, though prospective customers should follow Bynum on Instagram and Facebook for daily updates regarding truck openings and location.

Bynum, 43, owned Hush Bistro in Farmingdale before relocating to Huntington for a larger store. He helped open MB Ramen, also in Huntington, but he left his two restaurants in 2018 to work full-time at Fatwood Southern Kitchen in Bay Shore. The Bay Shore restaurant lasted for five months, Newsday reported.

Bynum then took a three-year hiatus from the restaurant scene where he was doing consulting work. A chef at heart, Bynum realized he wanted to return to food.

"There’s never really a right or wrong time," Bynum told Patch. "You’ve got to start somewhere. Why not start opening up my food truck in the winter? Work it out so that by the time the spring and summer come, it’s doing what it needs to do, it has legs, in condition, and people know about it."

Bynum was in the middle of a consult when it fell apart, he said. That put the chef out of a lot of money, and he found himself where he was before he originally opened Hush Bistro. Bynum affirmed to himself he wasn't going to continue to go through with the stress of consulting and instead get back to his passion: cooking.

Bynum opted to launch Hush Ramen Truck, as a food truck has less overhead than a brick-and-mortar restaurant. He called it a "special feeling" to be back to cooking, though said a food truck is a different environment from a large restaurant.

"I love it," he said. "I feel great. The perspective is different this time. I’m not trying to bite off more than I can chew, and making sure that everything is lined up properly, and that I’m OK with it. I’m not letting anyone dictate what I want to do. I open when I need to open. I don’t when I don’t. Control your own ship. It’s like going indie. I’m an independent artist."

Bynum said he was humbled by his previous experience in the culinary world, but he delights in the challenge of climbing back up the mountain.

"To be at a height and then not be, that’s humbling," he said. "To come back and rewrite the script, to me, that’s inspiring and humbling at the same time. The uphill battle is definitely something that I’m enjoying. And it’s food! At the end of the day, I love making food."

Bynum said he would one day like to return to a brick-and-mortar restaurant — but on his terms.

"I would love to own a building, I would love a bigger space. I’m looking for a special space."

The chef said he wants back in Farmingdale. Not on the bustling Main Street, though.

"I would love to be in the factories," Bynum said. "I want a compound back there. I want it to be a destination. And, for what I want to do, what I envision, I need that bandwidth. I need that space. And I need to be left alone."

Until then, Bynum will focus on filling people's bellies at his food truck with burgers, wings, ribs, and his specialty: ramen.

Bynum cited the lack of ramen trucks in the area and the fact that he is one of the longest-standing ramen chefs on Long Island as reasons he chose to build his truck around the noodle soup.

"I just love ramen," he said. "It can showcase everything that I know and love in a bowl. It doesn’t have to just be Asian. I can put my barbecue in there, I can put my soul food in there. I can do whatever I want to do. It’s a very liberating cuisine. And it’s young. Ramen is 100 years old as opposed to any other cooking style that’s thousands and thousands of years old."

Bynum encouraged people to keep up with his catering and consulting work on his website.