Restaurant Andre to close next year
Singapore chef Andre Chiang returns Michelin stars and announces plans to close.
CHEF Andre Chiang, whose eponymously named restaurant has held the title of Singapore’s best restaurant and is consistently ranked among the top restaurants in Asia, has asked Michelin to take back his two stars and announced plans to close next year.
It was a surprising one-two punch announcement issued just after Chiang celebrated the restaurant’s seventh anniversary last week, and one that continues to reverberate in Singapore’s dynamic fine dining community.
In a two-page letter to his fans and followers, Chiang explained he wants to retire at the peak of Restaurant Andre, which holds two Michelin stars and is currently ranked No.2 on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurant list just behind Indian restaurant Gaggan in Bangkok.
“I wish to kindly return my Michelin stars and also request to not be included in the 2018 edition of the Michelin Guide Singapore,” reads an excerpt, typed in bold font.
“Following Michelin Guide’s expansion in Asia, I understand that Michelin will soon launch new editions in Bangkok and Taiwan (where my other restaurant RAW is located in Taipei). As my hope is that RAW will be the pure place where I can focus on educating, developing others, and cooking after my retirement from Restaurant ANDRE, I also request that RAW not be included in the Michelin Guide Taiwan (or Taipei).”
Chiang is the latest chef to “give back” his Michelin stars and request omission in the next guide.
Other starry surrenders
Last month, French chef Sebastian Bras made international headlines for asking Michelin to strip off his three-starred status.
Bras’s restaurant Le Suquet in the village of Laguiole has held three stars since 1999 – a distinction that exerts a huge amount of unsustainable pressure on the kitchen, he said.
Then, owners of the Boath House in Nairn, Scotland, likewise walked away from their Michelin star by announcing plans to turn the restaurant into a casual dining destination.
“While we are extremely proud of the Michelin star we gained 10 years ago and it undoubtedly enhanced our reputation, our restaurant has consistently made a loss,” owner Wendy Matheson said in a statement to the BBC.
“We believe that the expectations from Michelin are at odds with achievable profit margins and put an enormous stress on a small family-run business like ours.”
Dining is changing, she added, and customers are seeking more informal, relaxed restaurant experiences.
Despite their public disavowal of Michelin’s ultra-demanding star system, the Boath House has retained its single star in the latest 2018 Michelin guide announced Oct 2.
Singapore’s loss, Taiwan’s gain
It appears that Singapore’s loss will be Taiwan’s gain as the Taiwanese chef also revealed plans to return to his birthplace like a prodigal son.
“After thirty years of a professional culinary career, returning to where I was born forty years ago has always been my dream, passing on everything I have to the next generation in Taiwan and China is my duty, and providing young chefs a better education and culinary culture is an urgent priority for me.”
The menu at Restaurant Andre is inspired by Southern French nouvelle cuisine and explores texture, terroir and food memories.
Like Ferran Adria and Rene Redzepi before him, who shocked the food world when they decided to shutter their restaurants (elBulli in Cala Montjoi, Noma in Copenhagen) at the peak of their success, Chiang said there’s nothing left to do at the restaurant, which has attained the summit of perfection.
“... we have achieved everything we wanted to achieve.”
The last service at Restaurant Andre will be Feb 14, 2018.
Chiang was short on details, but also noted he’s working on new projects for 2018 and 2019. – AFP Relaxnews