See how Taiwan-born Celebrity Chef André Chiang is braving hard times of Covid-19

TAIPEI: For those who do not know, Andre is the chef behind RAW in Taipei, Sichuan Moon in Macau and Singapore’s now-shuttered 2-Michelin star  Restaurant André (which, at its peak, was positioned No.2 in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants).

Andre is famed for his ‘Octaphilosophy’ that brings together the eight elements he believes to be fundamental to gastronomy: unique, pure, texture, memory, salt, south, artisan and terroir.

RAW is the most exhilarating revolutionary concept restaurant project in Taipei, by Chef Andre and his Taiwan culinary team and stances for more than just the finest artistic cooking; it is a comprehensive lifestyle, independent, spontaneous, and characteristic.

RAW draws stimulus from a new trend of cooking, ‘Bistronomy’, innate in Paris with an emphasis on value cooking and ingredients in a comfortable but distinguished atmosphere.

Since RAW’s inception, several restaurants in Taiwan have spun their attention to indigenous ingredients and specialties, doing their best to bring out the right taste of Taiwan. Andre is delighted to see this but discerns there is a long way to go. He wants Taiwan to have its own, distinct mainstay of savors and recipes. Andre is also working on a book that will outline Taiwanese flavor profiles. Each recipe and flavor will have an explanation.

Consumer behavior/reaction 

Andre Chiang: Taiwan possibly has the best protection and medical infrastructure during this virus attack, therefore our customer behavior basically no change, as we are happy and confident with our government Impact on reservations

Andre Chiang: Depends on individual restaurants, basically Asian style restaurant very little impact, Western-style has maybe 10-15% decrease in general for tourists, but 5-10% increase in local clientele; depends on how much they rely on tourist clientele. RAW focus 95% on Local Taiwanese so we don’t have any impact.

What is your concern about the situation?

Andre Chiang:  For our industry, if “everyone stays at home or their country, a lot of ‘crossover’ activities will be affected, and directly impact on imported produces; and restaurant strategy will turn to the local market.
What do you plan to do in the interim?

Andre Chiang: I am working at RAW Taipei and Skype meeting with all other restaurants

(Rupali Dean is Executive Editor with Asian Community News (ACN) Network)