RAW Anniversary — André Chiang’s Next Move: Defining Taiwanese Flavor for This Generation

▲ André Chiang hopes to redefine what “Taiwanese flavor” means for this generation.

Reported and photographed by Huang Shiyuan, Taipei

One of the hardest-to-book restaurants, “RAW,” is about to celebrate its first anniversary on December 9. To mark the occasion, André Chiang will bring his Singapore-based restaurant Restaurant ANDRE back to Taiwan, hosting the “RAW First Anniversary RAW X Restaurant ANDRE Dining Event” on December 9 and 10. Chiang said that the Restaurant ANDRE team returns to Taiwan once a year for such an event, and this year they finally have their own place to host it.

Chiang brings the Restaurant ANDRE team back to Taiwan once a year, and this year marks the fifth time. Compared to the previous four, this year—with RAW—they can finally present Restaurant ANDRE’s cuisine in their own space. This time also includes the RAW team, and Chiang emphasized that they are coming home, not as guests.

When founding RAW, Chiang positioned it as a restaurant for a new Taiwanese flavor—using local Taiwanese ingredients to create flavors that best represent Taiwan, and to showcase them. After a year, heading into 2016, Chiang remains committed to the concept of Taiwanese flavor. But he said that in the past, Taiwanese flavor might have been associated with grandma’s cooking, whereas RAW aims to redefine the “Taiwanese flavor” for this generation, so that the next generation can understand what Taiwanese flavor means today.

“RAW First Anniversary RAW X Restaurant ANDRE Appreciation Dining Event” Information
Event Dates: December 9 (Wed), 2015 – December 10 (Thu), 2015
Event Hours: Lunch 11:30–14:30, Dinner 18:00–22:00
Booking Opens: Online reservations open at midnight on November 9, 2015
Event Price: NT$8,888 per person + 10% service charge, full payment required upon booking