My Memory of Andre Chiang and His Memory From Restaurant Andre

FLASHBACK BEFORE 2019

Restaurant: RESTAURANT ANDRE (Singapore)
Dates Dined: March 2, 2014
                   July 16, 2016

                   January 6, 2018

With Chef Andre Chiang in March 2014

This would seem like a super-outdated review, but I think that it is but appropriate that my first food post should be about Chef Andre Chiang and his now defunct Restaurant Andre in Singapore.

I had dined in other gourmet restaurants before I first dined in Restaurant Andre back in March 2014. However, when I tasted his appetizers which looked like sheets of paper, it was the first time I said WOW! It was my first experience with molecular gastronomy. It amazed me how much he can condense so much flavor into thin sheets of paper.

On the branch: scallop paper, French purple potato paper, Swiss chard paper;
On the wooden slab: onion with pear puree, chicken skin with Masala puree & caviar

I remember being so floored by the whole dining experience that I raved about it in a Facebook post. When I was uploading the pictures, I was flabbergasted that I did not have a picture of the dessert Snow, because I ate it without taking a photo! So I emailed the restaurant if I can get a picture. They emailed me back with it, saying that it was Chef Andre himself who took the picture!

Snow: light sponge cake, lemon trio, buttermilk snow, chips of skimmed milk, and pear sorbet

So I searched for Chef Andre on Facebook to thank him for the effort. To my surprise, he replied back. From then on, we would sometimes send messages late at night, usually when I offer him my congratulations for his awards.

When I was planning to go to Taipei on October 2015, I wanted to dine in his restaurant Raw. During that time, one can only start reserving at 12 noon exactly two weeks before the desired date. I was shocked when all reservations for that date were gone in 30 seconds! I told Chef Andre that it was so difficult to book there. He advised me that my browser should already point to the reservations link by 11:59 am, so that by 12 noon I should immediately click on it. So I did just that, and I was able to enter and key in my contact details for a table. But by the time I submitted them, the reservation was already full! I told Chef Andre that I hoped one day I will be able to dine in Raw. He took pity on me and said he will try to get me a reservation -- and I did!

When I returned to Restaurant Andre on July 2016, I had purchased his "Octaphilosophy" book, and he gave me an autographed limited edition copy!

With Chef Andre Chiang in July 2016

I learned that on August 2017 Chef Andre was going to have collaboration dinners with THE Chef Albert Adria (formerly of THE El Bulli) in both Restaurant Andre and Raw. I called long-distance to Raw at the designated time, and I even had my Taiwanese friend do the same. But as expected, that major gastronomic event was quickly fully booked. This time I had no shame and I BEGGED Chef Andre for a seat -- and he gave it to me. So I flew to Taipei just for that. And because of it, I got to meet Chef Albert Adria. With that connection, I was able to secure hard-to-get reservations at Chef Albert's restaurants Tickets and Enigma in Barcelona.

With Chef Albert Adria and Chef Andre Chiang on August 2017

One thing that I have to mention though. Before the collaboration dinner, I had booked to attend the chefs talks of Chef Andre and Chef Albert. However, it was conducted in Taiwanese, so I did not understand a thing! Even though Chef Andre was in front of a large audience, he was able to notice my blank stare. So he had one of his staff go over to me to say that I did not have to pay for the talks. THAT for me is a true example of being aware of your customer's needs and providing excellent customer service!

So when he announced that he was closing down Restaurant Andre on February 2018, I made it a point to get a reservation and fly to Singapore to dine there for one last time. His farewell menu featured the best of the best dishes of Restaurant Andre. The pictures of those dishes are shown below.

Restaurant Andre had his own Octophilosophy, which means that every time you dine there, you get at least eight dishes which fall under his eight consistent themes. But even before you get those main dishes, you already get a plentiful array of exciting small bites.

Black cherry, red coral capsule

"Black Gold" escargot/blood/reindeer heart

Roasted coffee chestnut

Patatas bravas/toasted garlic/savory chocolate

Onion petal and crab miso

Abalone/kombu/liver

Fish & chips

Butternut/salted egg/vanilla

Beef/caviar/potato souffle

Ark shell/clam veloute/horseradish snow

Air baguette

Charcoal/piquillos/sweet prawn (Hmm now which one is the edible "charcoal'? No cheating! Pick up and quickly pop into your mouth!)

Now if you are not yet full, then you move on to the main dishes.

TEXTURE: Chanterelle/shiitake/matsutake

PURE (Part 1): Heirloom tomato/sancho sorbet

PURE (Part 2): Champagne rose vinaigrette and crab loin

ARTISAN (Part 1): 17 legumes du moment/charred toro vinaigrette

ARTISAN (Part 2): Fermented broth (poured after the 1st part to absorb what was left)

SOUTH: Seared gillardeau oyster and gnocchi/scallop lasagna/caviar aubergine

UNIQUE: Sayori barigoule/fumet emulsion/artichoke & porcini

SALT: Atlantic halibut/oyster/pork trotter

"Memory" is the only constant dish in all seatings of Restaurant Andre. It was the first dish that Chef Andre created which he called his own. It still stands as my favorite dish of Restaurant Andre, as well as one of my favorite dishes of all time. And why shouldn't it be? It has two of my favorite ingredients -- foie gras and truffle!

MEMORY: Foie gras royale/black truffle coulis/chives

Before serving the next main course, they showed us the whole slab from which our dish will be coming from.

I could have finished the whole thing, but instead they served us with a more manageable size for the sake of the other diners.

TERROIR: Wagyu beef/white truffle/chicory red beetroot sandwich

Before they served us the desserts, they gave us a palette cleanser:

Feijoa sorbet/Jewish plum pickles/verbena marshmallow

Cucumber berry

We also got the iconic dessert which other chefs had tried to visually duplicate.

Peche de vigne/muscadine/pink coriander

In tribute to the ice cream street vendors of Singapore, he has a dessert called "Ice Cream Uncle", which interprets the ice cream sandwiches that they sell. He had even allocated a donation to Uncle Ng to help support the latter's passion of selling ice cream.

The petit fours was more than just four bites.

Petit fours: Sucette, The Noir, nougat, madeleine, macaron, and pate de fruits

Afterwards, we got take-home presents. I got a box of Karin's Room blue butterfly pea & lavender tea. My niece got an egg-like container.

All in all, I can truly say that it was one of the best meals that I have ever had -- a testament to the success of Restaurant Andre.

With Chef Andre and my niece on January 2018

Andre Chiang has since moved on to other endeavors. He has opened "The Bridge" in Chengdu and "Sichuan Moon" in Macau. I hope to be able to try his new dishes there sometime soon -- if I somehow manage to get reservations there. As he had quoted Matisse when he autographed my menu, "Creativity takes courage, and we choose to be the courageous one." He has proved to be fearless in closing Restaurant Andre at its peak in order to expand his creativity.

Chef Andre, I finally got to use your picture of Snow in my blog after five years! Belated Happy Birthday!