Chef’s Table: Michelin-star chef Andrew Wong talks comfort foods and the evolution of Chinese cuisine in London

When chef Andrew Wong took over his parents’ Cantonese restaurant, it was out of a sense of duty. He had no plans to pursue a culinary career, but when circumstances pulled him back into the family business, it ignited a passion that turned him into a two-Michelin star chef. He turned what was a modest Anglo-Chinese restaurant into what we know as A.Wong today.

Located in London’s Victoria, A.Wong is the only Chinese restaurant outside of Asia to hold two Michelin stars. Here, chef Andrew showcases the rich diversity of China’s food culture and 14 international borders through artistry and dedication. 

So it was only right that for our February edition of Chef’s Table, and on the auspicious beginning of the Year of the Horse, we spoke with chef Andrew Wong about the evolution of Chinese cuisine in London, his childhood memories helping out in his parents’ restaurant and his ultimate comfort favourite delicacies.You head up A.Wong in London. What sets your menu apart?
I don’t necessarily think we’re massively different in principle, but I do think that we try to celebrate Chinese cuisine in a slightly different way compared to a traditional Chinese restaurant. We’re still celebrating China as a whole, but done in our way. When we first opened, it was very much like I’m bringing postcards of my favourite dishes from around the world and bringing them back to London. Now, it’s all about celebrating the ingredients, culture and heritage.

How would you describe your style as a chef? What do you want your guests to experience when they come to your restaurants?
I always say that food aside, what is more important for me is for guests to build curiosity about China. And if after they leave the restaurant, they go and google one thing about China – whether a region or ingredient – then I think we’ve achieved what we wanted to achieve.

Where did your passion for cooking come from?
Food has always been a massive part of our family, like in many Chinese families. I don’t necessarily think I had a big passion for cooking as a child. It was something that I developed over time as I became a professional chef. The more I learned, the more curious I became, the more engrossed and absorbed into this world I became. It’s really about embracing the ride along the way and experiencing, seeing, learning about as many things as possible.What is your fondest memory from helping your parents run their family restaurant as a child?
Oh, I absolutely hated it! (laughs) It was torture and punishment growing up, but we did it because we had to. If I look back now, if there was one thing that stuck with me was the interactions that I used to have with the staff. The team was always very international, so there were people from all over the world. I remember having conversations even as a kid, and the staff would be telling me about their homes, their origins, culture, their practices, their tableside culture, everything. I remember learning so much about South American, European, Eastern European culture and this was probably the fondest thing of the whole experience.

A Wong is the only restaurant to hold two-Michelin stars outside of Asia. What does it take to make a truly good Chinese/Asian fine dining restaurant stand out from the crowd?
This is going to sound really strange, but I think nowadays it becomes problematic to call it a Chinese restaurant. So even now when we describe the restaurant we really have to – and it will sound pretentious – go with some linguistics. But we always call it our Chinese cuisine because it’s not really about just cooking dishes from China anymore. It’s a very personal expression. The same reasons that we get critiqued by a Southeast Asian guest about “authenticity” is probably the same reason that we’ve managed to separate ourselves in the sense that what we do is a very personal expression and to this day no one has been able to replicate it. Authenticity is completely fluid.Over the last few decades, Chinese food has evolved a lot in London’s bustling food scene. How do you think the perception towards Chinese cuisine has changed over the years?
I think if anything, London plays a massive part in the international perception of Chinese food. If you really date it back, the earliest Chinese restaurant in the UK was probably 1880, 1890, which is a good 50 years before some other countries in Europe – and some still don’t have Chinese restaurants, really. A lot of the trends you see across Europe and worldwide outside of China originate from London. So I think London really is sometimes the seed but also a celebration of specific Chinese regional idiosyncrasies that you go and explore around the world later on in the future. 

Away from the restaurant, what is your ultimate personal comfort food or favourite dish?
I love noodles. I think that is my all-time favourite comfort food for every occasion. Soup noodles, fried noodles, crispy noodles, everything. Super noodles, instantly noodles (laughs), all types. And it’s such a massive part of my journey as well, as a chef. I learned so much about cooking from noodles – flour, hydration, blanching, elasticity, protein structures, gluten. It’s so much more than just a noodle.Why is this a comfort food to you? Do you have any special memories associated with the dish?
My earliest memory is probably my grandma cooking instant ramen in the 80s, and she would always put red Chinese vinegar at the bottom of the bowl before pouring the soup, and it always made the biggest difference in the world. And later on in life, I started a journey of trying to learn how to pull noodles, and that was incredible.

Who are some of your chef heroes?
I’ve got loads. Albert Adrià, Clare Smyth – I think she is the most incredible restaurateur, chef, businesswoman, Pierre Koffmann, who is just the nicest guy in the world. I have so many. I’ve been so lucky over the years to meet so many chefs, and so many of them have been just incredible people.

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