A. Wong

Last updated

A. Wong
A. Wong
Restaurant information
Established2012
Owner(s)Andrew Wong
Food type Cantonese
RatingMichelin stars
Etoile Michelin-2.svg (2021–present)
Etoile Michelin-1.svg (2017–2021)
Street address70 Wilton Road, Pimlico
CityLondon
Postal/ZIP CodeSW1V 1DE
CountryUnited Kingdom
Website awong.co.uk

A. Wong is a Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant, located in Pimlico, London. It serves modern British retake on traditional Cantonese dishes. It is owned by Andrew Wong, a third-generation London restaurateur who is also the restaurant's chef de cuisine. [1]

Contents

History

In 2012, Andrew Wong, a third-generation restaurateur, opened A. Wong, named after his parents, in Pimlico and became its chef patron. [2] [3] [4] The site was previously the location of his parents' Cantonese restaurant Kym. [3] [5] Wong's wife Nathalie manages the restaurant. [2]

Among notable guests of the restaurant were brothers Ferran and Albert Adrià of El Bulli. [4]

The restaurant has provided traditional Cantonese dishes with modern British twists. [6] The menu has been seasonal and included Peking duck, guotie (pan-fried dumpling) and xiaolongbao (Shanghai pork dumpling) with ginger-flavoured vinegar foam. [4] [5] [7] It has also offered the "Taste of China" tasting menu, which included "soy chicken, ginger oil osetra caviar wrap", Shaanxi shredded lamb 'burger' "with Xinjiang pomegranate salad", char siu "with grated foie gras", "Chengdu street tofu", "Anhui fermented seabass", and "Wuwei smoked duck" (无为熏鸭). [3] [8]

A. Wong also offered a Xinjiang-inspired dish of deep-fried beef strips with chili and a sauce; "'1,000 chili' chicken with snails and Sichuan pepper"; Kung Pao chicken; "seared wagyu beef with mint, chili and lemongrass"; aubergine with Sichuan sauce; and crispy noodles with brown gravy. [8] It also has offered dim sum dishes, like prawn cracker with deep-fried seaweed and "pork and prawn dumpling" with "a citrus foam", and desserts, like duck egg custard and "poached merengue with fruit textures". [9] [10]

A. Wong also offered "Why We Don't Eat Shark Fin Soup", a soup dish containing agar and chicken broth with oil extracted from steamed ham "rolled in sugar". Derived from shark fin soup, Wong's dish substituted agar for shark fins because shark finning is banned in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. A. Wong also offered "Why The Buddha Didn't Jump Over the Wall" ("barbecued sweet potato with some fermented, salted black-bean relish"), inspired by the Columbian exchange in the 1500s and based on a popular Cantonese dish of "pumpkin and black bean sauce". [5]

Wong wrote a 2015 cookbook, A. Wong: The Cookbook. [11]

Reception

The restaurant earned its first Michelin star in October 2017. [12] It then earned its second star in January 2021, becoming the first Chinese restaurant outside Asia and in the United Kingdom to hold two stars. [5] [7] [13] To this date, it has been the only two-Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant outside Asia. [7]

Ben McCormack in November 2018 called A. Wong "the best restaurant in Victoria" and "possibly the best Chinese restaurant in Europe". [8]

Chef and restaurateur

Wong was born in early 1980s into a family that operates Chinese restaurants, including his parents Albert and Annie. [2] [5] Wong's grandfather, a Chinese immigrant, owned some East End pubs and a restaurant in Chinatown, London. [3] [5] Wong initially did not aspire a career in hospitality, and his father wanted him to pursue further education. [14]

Wong attended the University of Oxford for a bachelor's degree in chemistry but did not finish after one year and a half. [2] He then studied social anthropology at the London School of Economics. [7] In 2003, due to his father's death, Wong decided to help his mother Annie run the family's four remaining Chinese restaurants, including one Cantonese restaurant, Kym's, opened in 1985 by Wong's parents and named after his grandmother. [2] [3] [14] Wong then took cooking classes at Westminster Kingsway College and spent six months in China studying varieties of Chinese cuisine. [2]

Wong opened another Chinese restaurant Baoshuan in New Delhi in 2018. [4] [7] He also operated another Chinese restaurant Kym's, which lasted from March 2019 to late 2020, in Bloomberg Arcade of London. [15] [16] He became a research associate at the SOAS Food Studies Centre of the SOAS University of London in May 2020. [5] [17] [18]

Wong also co-hosts XO Soused, a podcast exploring the cultural history of Chinese food, with Dr Mukta Das, food anthropologist at the SOAS Food Studies Centre. [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cantonese cuisine</span> Chinese regional cuisine from Guangdong

Cantonese or Guangdong cuisine, also known as Yue cuisine, is the cuisine of Guangdong province of China, particularly the provincial capital Guangzhou, and the surrounding regions in the Pearl River Delta including Hong Kong and Macau. Strictly speaking, Cantonese cuisine is the cuisine of Guangzhou or of Cantonese speakers, but it often includes the cooking styles of all the speakers of Yue Chinese languages in Guangdong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teochew cuisine</span> Chinese regional cuisine

Teochew cuisine, also known as Chiuchow cuisine, Chaozhou cuisine or Teo-swa cuisine, originated from the Chaoshan region in the eastern part of China's Guangdong Province, which includes the cities of Chaozhou, Shantou and Jieyang. Teochew cuisine bears more similarities to that of Fujian cuisine, particularly Southern Min cuisine, due to the similarity of Teochew's and Fujian's culture, language, and their geographic proximity to each other. However, Teochew cuisine is also influenced by Cantonese cuisine in its style and technique.

Taiwanese cuisine is a popular style of food with several variations, including Chinese and that of Taiwanese indigenous peoples, with the earliest cuisines known of being the indigenous ones. With over a hundred years of historical development, mainstream Taiwanese cuisine has been influenced by Hakka cuisine, the cuisines of the waishengren, Japanese cuisine, and American cuisine, with southern Fujian cuisine having had the most profound impact.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chop suey</span> Dish in overseas Chinese cuisine

Chop suey is a dish from American Chinese cuisine and other forms of overseas Chinese cuisine, generally consisting of meat and eggs, cooked quickly with vegetables such as bean sprouts, cabbage, and celery, and bound in a starch-thickened sauce. It is typically served with rice, but can become the Chinese-American form of chow mein with the substitution of stir-fried noodles for rice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dim sum</span> Chinese cuisine

Dim sum is a large range of small Chinese dishes that are traditionally enjoyed in restaurants for brunch. Most modern dim sum dishes are commonly associated with Cantonese cuisine, although dim sum dishes also exist in other Chinese cuisines. In the tenth century, when the city of Canton (Guangzhou) began to experience an increase in commercial travel, many frequented teahouses for small-portion meals with tea called "yum cha" (brunch). "Yum cha" includes two related concepts. The first is "jat zung loeng gin", which translates literally as "one cup, two pieces". This refers to the custom of serving teahouse customers two delicately made food items, savory or sweet, to complement their tea. The second is dim sum, which translates literally to "touch the heart", the term used to designate the small food items that accompanied the tea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soy sauce chicken</span> Traditional Cantonese dish

Soy sauce chicken is a traditional Cantonese cuisine dish made of chicken cooked with soy sauce. It is considered as a siu mei dish in Hong Kong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manti (food)</span> Type of dumpling popular in Central and West Asia

Manti is a type of dumpling mainly found in Turkish cuisine, Armenian cuisine and Central Asian cuisine but also in West Asia, South Caucasus, and the Balkans. Manti is also popular among Chinese Muslims, and it is consumed throughout post-Soviet countries, where the dish spread from the Central Asian republics. The dumplings typically consist of a spiced meat mixture, usually lamb or ground beef, wrapped in a thin dough sheet which is then boiled or steamed. The size and shape of manti vary significantly depending on geographic location.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chez Bruce</span> Restaurant in London, England

Chez Bruce is a restaurant located at 2 Bellevue Road in Wandsworth, London, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Korean Chinese cuisine</span> Cuisine of the ethnic Chinese in Korea

Korean Chinese cuisine, also known as Sino–Korean cuisine, is a hybrid cuisine developed by the ethnic Chinese in Korea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japanese Chinese cuisine</span> Japanese reinterpretation of Chinese culinary traditions

Japanese Chinese cuisine, also known as chūka, represents a unique fusion of Japanese and Chinese culinary traditions that have evolved over the late 19th century and more recent times. This style, served predominantly by Chinese restaurants in Japan, stands distinct from the "authentic Chinese food" found in areas such as Yokohama Chinatown. Despite this difference, the cuisine retains strong influences from various Chinese culinary styles, as seen in the shippoku cooking style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Aikens (restaurant)</span> Restaurant in London, England

Tom Aikens was a London Michelin-starred fine dining restaurant operated by the eponymous chef from April 2003 opening to January 2014 closure. The restaurant received mostly positive critical reception.

Kai Mayfair is a fine dining Chinese restaurant located on 65 South Audley Street, Mayfair, near Park Lane in London, England. It was opened in 1993 by Malaysian sport shooter; Bernard Yeoh, with the intent of changing the perception of the Chinese restaurant experience. Yeoh was keen to show that Asian food has just as much standing in the fine-dining circuit as other cuisines. The head chef is Alex Chow, while Yeoh continues to be the proprietor to this day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shark fin dumpling</span> Superior of Soup

Shark fin dumpling is a dim sum dish in Hong Kong. It is a form of Dumpling in Superior Soup, a dumpling with gelatinous broth inside. As with shark fin soup, the shark fin content is often replaced with an imitation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dandan noodles</span> Chinese noodle dish

Dandan noodles or dandanmian, literally "carrying-pole noodles", is a noodle dish originating from Chinese Sichuan cuisine. It consists of a spicy sauce usually containing preserved vegetables, chili oil, Sichuan pepper, minced pork, and scallions served over noodles. The dish can either be served dry or as a noodle soup.

<i>Jiaozi</i> Chinese dumplings

Jiaozi are a type of Chinese dumpling. Jiaozi typically consist of a ground meat and/or vegetable filling wrapped into a thinly rolled piece of dough, which is then sealed by pressing the edges together. Finished jiaozi can be boiled, steamed, pan-fried, or deep-fried, and are traditionally served with a black vinegar and sesame oil dip. They can also be served in a soup.

The Restaurant Marco Pierre White, also known as The Restaurant, Restaurant Marco Pierre White and later Oak Room Marco Pierre White, was a restaurant run by chef proprietor Marco Pierre White. The Restaurant was opened at the Hyde Park Hotel, London, on 14 September 1993, after White left his previous restaurant, Harveys. Following the move, the kitchen staff was more than doubled in number, and White used Pierre Koffmann's La Tante Claire as a template to pursue his third Michelin star. This was awarded in the 1995 Michelin guide. White then moved the restaurant to the Le Méridien Piccadilly Hotel, London, in 1997, taking on the listed Oak Room as the main dining room. He sought a further rating of five red forks and spoons in the guide, to gain the highest possible rating for the restaurant. It gained this award in the following guide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Chinese cuisine</span>

Australian Chinese cuisine is a style of cooking developed by Australians of Chinese descent, who adapted dishes to satisfy local Anglo-Celtic tastes. Its roots can be traced to indentured Chinese who were brought to work as cooks in country pubs and sheep stations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elystan Street</span> Restaurant in London, England

Elystan Street is a London restaurant co-owned by chef patron Phil Howard and Rebecca Mascarenhas. Howard and Mascarenhas established the restaurant on 27 September 2016, six months after Howard sold and left his previous restaurant The Square. Elystan Street earned its first Michelin star in October 2017 and has retained it since.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ocean City Seafood Restaurant</span> Defunct Chinese restaurant in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

Ocean City Seafood Restaurant was a Chinese restaurant in Portland, Oregon.

References

  1. "'The sky's the limit': Spanish and Chinese chefs' dazzling dim sum". South China Morning Post. 13 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Andrew Wong (A Wong)". Great British Chefs. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Lanyon, Charley (20 February 2019). "London's Chinese restaurant revolution: China's regional cuisines reimagined from high to low" . South China Morning Post . ISSN   1021-6731. ProQuest   2184251061 . Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Vishal, Anoothi (11 February 2021). "How Andrew Wong is welcoming The Year of the Ox". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Wang, Andy (10 February 2021). "How London's A. Wong Embraced the Past to Push Chinese Fine Dining Into the Future". Robb Report . Retrieved 3 January 2021. The author of the magazine article is not to be confused with the chef of a similar name.
  6. Sitwell, William (12 February 2021). "A. Wong's impact on London is tangible – all thanks to a very special chef". The Daily Telegraph . ProQuest   2488772449 . Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Wong, Andrew (24 March 2021). "In Conversation With The Two Michelin-Star Chef Andrew Wong". Elle India (Interview). Interviewed by Isha Mayer. Archived from the original on 22 August 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  8. 1 2 3 McCormack, Ben (26 November 2018). "A. Wong restaurant review: could it be the best Chinese restaurant in Europe?" . The New York Times . ProQuest   2137637480 . Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  9. Rayner, Jay (31 January 2016). "A Wong: restaurant review". The Guardian . Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  10. Chesterton, George (4 June 2019). "A Wong is the place to find the Chinese food of your dreams". GQ . Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  11. Brian, O'Rourke (14 October 2015). "Cookbook Review: A. Wong The Cookbook". HuffPost . Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  12. Khomami, Nadia (2 October 2017). "Nine-seat Araki sushi restaurant wins three Michelin stars". The Guardian . Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  13. Fabricant, Florence (26 January 2021). "Debajo, From a Former Ferris Chef, Opens in the Made Hotel" . The New York Times . ProQuest   2480815709 . Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  14. 1 2 Wong, Andrew (1 February 2018). "Andrew Wong on Chinese Food and Why He Won't Serve Spring Rolls" . The Independent (Interview). Interviewed by Emma Henderson. Archived from the original on 22 August 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  15. Hayward, Tim (14 March 2019). "Kym's, London: 'an almighty curate's egg' — restaurant review". Financial Times . ProQuest   2191213860 . Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  16. Plush, Hazel (29 September 2020). "Four countries including Italy and Greece face quarantine restrictions" . The Daily Telegraph . ProQuest   2447147260 . Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  17. Hill, Lauren Jade (9 July 2021). "Andrew Wong: life through a culinary lens". Tempus. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  18. Wong, Andrew (8 December 2020). "Meet the Michelin Chef: Andrew Wong". The Wordrobe (Interview). Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  19. Duffell, Rachel (15 February 2022). "Have You Listened to XO Soused, Chef Andrew Wong's Podcast on Chinese Food Culture and History?". Tatler Asia . Retrieved 27 May 2024.

51°29′35″N0°08′26″W / 51.4930°N 0.1406°W / 51.4930; -0.1406