Being the only Chinese restaurant outside of Asia to hold two Michelin stars brings with it a responsibility, as opposed to pressure, for Andrew Wong.
Based in Victoria in London, Andrew, alongside wife Nathalie, opened A. Wong in 2012. Five years later, it earned its first Michelin star, upgraded to two stars four years after that, in 2021.
The Pimlico site has been a Chinese restaurant for a lot longer, previously known as Kym’s since the 1980s, run by Andrew’s parents, Albert and Annie, who A. Wong is named after.
But under Andrew’s new vision, things have been taken to a new level.
The Journey of A. Wong: From Family Restaurant to Michelin Stardom
“I think we're still a family restaurant,” he said.
“Obviously there are differences between the restaurant that my parents have and the restaurant that we have now. We have a lot more staff, a different style of menu and a different concept.
“But, fundamentally, the sentiment of how we run this business is very much the same. If anything, I learned that from my parents.
“The understanding of trying to look after the small things, not waste. The repercussions of and the importance of building relationships with your staff, building relationships with your guests, building relationships with your suppliers. I think that's never truer than when you have a family business.
“When you work in a family restaurant, you understand the importance of things. It's very simple - you either sell more dumplings or you're not going on holiday, you're not getting school uniform, you're not paying for your bus pass.
“I think with that ingrained internalised importance, it makes your approach to your work and the sentiment behind what you do very different to if you just work in the industry in kitchens.”
He added: “Growing up I very much didn't want to dedicate my life to food. I grew up in a restaurant, where it was part of our lifestyle more than anything. Even to this day, I always question how we actually got here!
“Every day we try to just keep our head down, do the best that we can, improve a little bit here and there and then just roll with the punches and see where it takes us.”
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The Unique Role of A. Wong in Chinese Gastronomy
Where it has taken Andrew is to the pinnacle of Chinese cuisine in Europe.
Asked if he felt gaining two Michelin stars was achievable when he started out, Andrew said: “No, because no-one had ever done it. I don't think we'd ever made any big grand plans.
“I always hoped we could win one star. That was like a personal achievement for myself and the team. But everything that happened after that was a surprise, a blessing and a lot of luck.
“I think it's important because with a guide like Michelin, that has its roots deeply set in European or classical French cuisine, it's now moving into the wider world.
“It’s very, very difficult to judge what we do against very classical French cuisine, incredible dining rooms, or Scandinavian cuisine. It’s about finding a way of celebrating all these different cuisines under this rating of Michelin stars.
“So I feel like Michelin are always moving and evolving to try to find ways to celebrate the different cuisines of the world. I hear that they might be going into India next. That again would be a completely different way of evaluating a cuisine, because so much of it is so different.
“The cultural identity of the way that we eat, the way that we compose dishes, the way that we use spice, the way that we use aromats, it's so different to every other cuisine.
“I think what Michelin have done so well is that they're trying to find ways to celebrate individual styles of restaurant, individual cuisines in different parts of the world. I think that's a wonderful thing.”
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He added: “The actual stars in themselves don't carry any inherent pressure.
“The only thing that I feel maybe has some layers of pressure is the idea that because we're in a very unique space, it carries responsibility, not only within Chinese restaurants, but it carries responsibility within Chinese communities.
“It's this idea that when people come to the restaurant, some of them haven't had lots of interaction with Chinese restaurants and Chinese food. So it's natural that their experience here will then carry a lot of weight in how they perceive Chinese restaurants, Chinese food, and sometimes the Chinese community.
“So it's our responsibility to make sure that we do the best that we can to show how wonderful our gastronomy is and how wonderful our community is.
“I think we've actually reached a point with our food now where it's about appreciating the past, but also finding a way for us to find our cuisine moving forward into the future.”
The Future of Chinese Cuisine in the UK
It was his travels across China which opened Andrew’s mind to what was possible for his fine dining restaurant, moving away from western staples.
The 43-year-old explained: “I was guilty of all the things that I accused my guests of being before I went to work in China. I hadn't really, truly appreciated the massive diversity that existed within the country.
“If you grew up and every Saturday night your family thing was to have Chinese and your mum liked the same thing, your dad liked the same thing, you always ordered the same thing, then they are the dishes you would get. The problem is that sometimes that becomes such a strong food memory for you, so when you go to a Chinese restaurant like ours where we're not always cooking by the book, we're always trying to find ways to express ourselves, we're always trying to find ways to test the boundaries of our guests sometimes with what they perceive to be Chinese food, sometimes that can come with a knee-jerk reaction.
“It's important that as a restaurant we do it in a way where hopefully those unfamiliar things eventually become familiar and the familiar things are happily becoming unfamiliar.”
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He continued: “I think Chinese food in the UK has got a massive amount of history. But if there was one thing I would say that I see to be an area which hasn't been explored yet, it is this idea of every gastronomy needs to evolve.
“It needs to move and it needs to change because times are changing, London's changing, the world's changing, people's interactions with China are changing. I feel like within Chinese gastronomy, if you compare it to other cuisines within the UK, I feel like we probably haven't changed as much as others.
“If you check out Italian cuisine, Indian cuisine, Middle Eastern cuisine, I think it's really evolved a lot over the past 25 years. Yet with Chinese food, I think because everyone is so accustomed and attached to it, they haven't allowed Chinese cuisine to really blossom in a way that I feel like it could.
“I feel like there's so much of China that has been left untapped still, because people still want to go and order sweet and sour chicken and spring rolls, which is great, but I feel like there is something there. China is a massive country.
“I feel like if we allowed ourselves to tap into those areas that haven't been explored yet, then people's understanding of Chinese food would be amazingly increased. And at the same time, what you will get as an end product will also be so much more fruitful in its diversity, flavour profiles, cultural understanding and the end result of the dishes and the restaurants.”
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