WG MAGAZINE
B
orn and brought up in London, Andrew has been immersed in the world of restaurants since his childhood. His grandfather, moved to London as a Chinese refugee, owned pubs in the East End and a restaurant in China Town. In 1985, his parents opened a Cantonese restaurant, Kym’s in Pimlico, named after his grandmother. That is now the current location of Andrew’s first restaurant, A. Wong. Many people assume the A stands for Andrew but it’s actually a nod to his parents, Albert and Annie.
ANDREW WONG NOSTALGIC FLAVOURS
He opened his second restaurant, Kym’s, at The Bloomberg Arcade early October 2018. At Kym’s his main goal is to showcase his interpretation of some classic Chinese dishes and really celebrates the London Chinese food scene. Most of his younger years were spent at his parent’s restaurant, Kym’s. Both, he and his sister would spend many an afternoon working in the restaurant to help out, being paid in batteries for their Walkman’s. He wasn’t exactly sure what sort of career he wanted to pursue but he knew it definitely wasn’t a chef! When he left school he went on to study chemistry at Oxford University before swapping to study Anthropology at the London School of Economics where he eventually graduated. When he was 22, his father passed away, and he came back to the restaurant to help his mum. He realized that he wasn’t all that bad at cooking and wanted to work hard and be the best he could be in the kitchen, so he enrolled at the London culinary school where he specialized in classical French cookery and culinary science.
WG December 2018 -
33