Andrew Wong
Chef & Owner, A. Wong
Meet Andrew Wong
Andrew Wong, two-Michelin starred chef behind A. Wong and lifelong L’Estrange London customer, celebrates 10 years of taking guests on a journey through Chinese cuisine. We sat down with him and found out the most important moments of his career and how A. Wong has evolved over the years.
Lestrange
Congratulations, A.Wong is celebrating 10 years since opening its doors! What are your greatest achievements and memories in this last decade?
Andrew
When Natalie and I opened this restaurant, there was a simple goal and that was to create a restaurant that we would like to go to ourselves on a regular basis. We wanted to create an environment which was relaxed, but also celebrated food and culture. “As time goes on with any project or passion, it will change, evolve and manifest itself in different forms. It has always been, ‘how about we introduce people to Chinese culture through our menu?’ Then it became, ‘how about we create a menu that takes our guests on a journey through different homages to different regions around China?’
“Over the years, we developed this menu we have been very fortunate to have, and had great recognition and won some fantastic awards. Even though a decade on, it has always [been a question of], ‘how do we evolve the restaurant to move with the times and move with the guests, but also ourselves?’ “We want to be developing regardless of whether or not it’s about knowledge of cuisine or gastronomy or culture; anything that can help the restaurant to move in the times.
Lestrange
Tell me about a vivid memory during this time.
Andrew
I remember one Saturday night we were preparing for dinner service, and back in the day, Michelin used to call people [on the telephone]. The receptionist said, ‘we’ve had a call from Michelin,’ and I said, ‘why didn’t you tell me?’ She said she told them, ‘chef’s busy!’ Luckily, [Michelin] called back. We were in the middle of service but it was a great moment in the kitchen, with the people who made it happen. That was the most memorable moment.
Lestrange
Tell us about the tough moments?
Andrew
Well, every day is a tough moment. It’s a series of tough moments every day, but the opening was the most challenging. As a chef, I was still learning (I’m still learning) and as a leader and manager I was still developing. But when you open the first restaurant, you’re trying to establish who you are and what you want and finding that space takes a long time to adjust. At the same time Natalie and I were organising our wedding and then preparing ourselves for our first daughter! That was the hardest year of my life.
Lestrange
What person has had the biggest impact on you?
Andrew
Becoming a chef was never a career I aspired to do from a young age. My parents had restaurants and in a strange kind of way of growing up, it was about trying to avoid following in the same footsteps as your parents. But I fell into the restaurant [industry] because my father passed away whilst I was at university and I went back to help the family. “I never looked at another chef. I never looked to a particular person or individual person to guide me or give me a benchmark for where I wanted to go. Over the 20 years I’ve been cooking, various people across different fields have inspired me and supported me. Not only by sharing their advice relating to hospitality, but also sharing their own journeys. I used that as a source of inspiration to move forward. “Before you know it, your restaurant has been open for 10 years!
Lestrange
With all of that in context, looking back, the 24 Trousers have been there with you during these pivotal moments. What does that mean to you?
Andrew
I’m quite a sentimental person, I don’t like to change and replace things all the time. I still like to print out photos and I still handwrite in my diary. Clothing is part of that, it’s something tangible, you live through it everyday, it’s been there. The same as having people through your journey, they’ve shared those memories with you. “The 24 Trousers are something I wear day in and day out. I’ve got an entire compartment of my wardrobe which is just those. All black and I wear white trainers. The psychology of that is probably slightly deranged, black 24s, white trainers, chefs jacket. That’s it.
Lestrange
What’s the one possession you’d save in a fire?
Andrew
Tough question- would be a scramble to say. It would be a photo album. That would be a hard thing to replace in today’s world of hard drives and Iclouds and USBs, there are very few things that are (truly) irreplaceable. Not so much photos of my own memories, but old photos of my grandparents and great grandparents that you could never get back and I’ve never digitised them so they’re stuck in an album in my apartment.
Lestrange
What’s Essential to you?
Andrew
As I get older, I slowly become wiser, and you begin to realise that things such as being a nice person, and humility are probably the most essential things in life.
