Celebrity chef Andre Chiang: ‘I want to be remembered for making an impact’
Acclaimed Taiwanese chef Andre Chiang, who is back in Singapore for a 12-day residency at Raffles Hotel Singapore, shares why he is passionate about being a storyteller, mentor and gamechanger in the F&B industry.

Taiwanese chef Andre Chiang. (Photo: Raffles Hotel Singapore)
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When Andre Chiang shuttered his two-Michelin starred eponymous Restaurant Andre in 2018, many foodies in Singapore mourned for an icon lost.
Chiang is now back for a sold-out residency from now till Mar 24 (Sun) at Raffles Hotel Singapore, where he and the team from his Taiwan restaurant Raw takes over the space of Raffles Hotel’s one Michelin-starred French restaurant La Dame de Pic.
We only had 30 minutes to chat the day before the residency started. Despite the hubbub of the team running through their paces in the restaurant, 48-year-old Chiang, a commanding presence with his nearly 1.9-metre frame, was fully engaged in our conversation.

One can only imagine what is whirring in his mind. After opening nine acclaimed dining concepts around the world, including the most famous two Michelin-starred ones in Singapore, Taipei (Raw, opened in 2014) and Macau (Sichuan Moon, opened in 2019), he is still thinking of new ones although he declines to reveal more.
He said: “Every year or two I try to have a different concept. The industry is evolving very fast, and I enjoy creating a concept for a particular space that tells its story. Cooking at the end of the day is just a tool to deliver a message or tell a story.”
But he feels his role as a culinary creator is changing from that of a storyteller to one who enables future generations of chefs to do something bigger. “I’ve always been translating a space, a culture, a city’s story into a cuisine so that people can understand the history behind the dish. But now is the time for me to pass on a tradition or experience to the next generation of chefs.”

When asked what caused the change in perspective, Chiang burst into a hearty laugh, saying: “‘Because I’m getting old!” before turning more pensive. “Being a creator, I think the most important and powerful thing is to change people’s perception, even if it’s a simple ingredient. Let’s say you don’t like tomatoes; how do I change your perception so that you’d eat it or see a different value to it? I think that is our duty.”
One of the things that bothered Chiang was how the best local produce in his native Taiwan such as mango, banana, pineapple and rice were exported, and people were calling imported ingredients “premium”. He shared with a hint of indignation: “I felt there was something wrong. We're supposed to keep the best, but they all went out and we imported other countries’ premium ingredients and called them our premium ones.”

When he opened French “bistronomy” style Raw, he was adamant that they would use 100 per cent Taiwanese ingredients and pay the export price. He would also use ingredients found in the local markets to show young chefs that these can be elevated in a fine dining restaurant. He said: “That opened a lot of doors for people to say that opening a restaurant was possible anywhere in Taiwan as there were all these local ingredients. Today, if you go to any restaurant in Taiwan, they will say that they use this leek or pork from a city here. Ten years ago, it never happened.”
In Chiang’s restaurants, examples of simple-made-sassy dishes include a chicken skin masala canape from Restaurant Andre. In the current residency menu is a dessert of osmanthus “adachi”, where the typical pate de fruit at the end of a French meal is represented by an osmanthus infused attap seed.
Chiang is also known for mentoring young talent, many of whom have made their mark on the culinary scene. Among them are Le Matin’s pastry chef-owner Mohamad Al-Matin and Zor Tan, who had helmed Restaurant Andre, Raw and Sichuan Moon and is now chef-owner of one-Michelin-starred Restaurant Born, ranked No. 36 on the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list.

“Since the beginning, my thinking is not just to open a restaurant for the sake of cooking the things I like but to create an environment for the young generation to learn. I want them to be inspired to find their own cooking philosophy and style,” said Chiang. “I'm not just teaching them how to cook the way I want, but really understand what cooking is about.”
He still puts his team at Raw through gruelling traditional techniques with menus such as the “Grande Classique” last year that highlighted 13th to 19th century French recipes. He shared: “There was a pate that took three-and-a-half days to prepare and a duck that was aged two weeks with seven to nine layers of glaze, each applied every two days. I did that because if we don’t physically do it, the young ones will never believe that great flavours come from hard work and there’s no shortcut to it.”
He is hopeful that one day young Asian chefs can gain all the experience and techniques they need within Asia’s fine dining restaurants and don’t have to go to Europe to gain credibility like he did over 30 years ago. He said: “I think it is achievable. The number of restaurants in Asia with culinary finesse and quality settings is increasing and the industry standards and expectations here are higher than in Europe.”
Even with a string of accolades, including the Diners Club Lifetime Achievement Award from 50 Best, Chiang’s fulfilment is in knowing that every project he does is leaving a positive impact on the F&B industry. “When I create something, I always look for a bigger meaning. That includes changing people’s perceptions of ingredients and nurturing great chefs for the industry. That is what I want to be remembered for.”