新加坡Restaurant ANDRE將歇業 江振誠：我要回家了
被時代雜誌喻爲印度洋上最偉大的廚師、入選全球百大名廚的江振誠，他在新加坡開設的Restaurant ANDRE連二年摘下米其林二星，不過江振誠卻在10日宣佈將從Restaurant ANDRE退役，除了把重心將轉回臺灣及RAW之外，2018與2019將會有幾個新計劃，在江振誠給大家的聲明文中指出，回到40多年前出生的故鄉-臺灣，一直都是他的夢想，他說「現在，我要回家了。」
▲首位摘星的臺灣主廚江振誠要回來臺灣了！（圖／黃士原攝）裡提到餐廳在2018年二月即將有重大的改造，明年初開始江振誠也將重新調整生活的重心，計劃回到臺灣專注在教育與培養人才。不過因爲之前Restaurant ANDRE只有江振城在廚房的時候才營業，餐廳也是以江振誠英文名來命名，沒有了江振誠，就不能叫Restaurant ANDRE，因此江振誠特地在聲明文提到，他將歸還米其林二星，同時提醒2018年的新版新加坡米其林指南請將Restaurant ANDRE排除在考量之列。另外，回來臺灣之後，除了教育與培養人才，江振誠也希望能在RAW單純享受做菜的樂趣，他也希望未來臺灣（或臺北）米其林指南能把垂愛留給RAW以外的餐廳。
30年的職業料理生涯裡，出生的故鄉-臺灣，一直都是江振誠的夢想。在這片土地上，江振誠將貨所有的氣力將經驗與知識傳承給臺灣與中國的新世代，給年輕的廚師們更好的教育與餐飲文化對他來說更是刻不容緩。江振誠說，「現在，我要回家了。」
江振誠聲明中文版2017年10月10日
「我是個完美主義者。在我過往的30年職業生涯裡，我不斷在追尋着那不存在的『完美』，像是世界最佳餐廳、米其林三星，…等等的肯定，直到現在我才發覺，此刻，已是最完美。」
從 Restaurant ANDRE 開始的第一天我就告訴我自己，我要親手寫卡片給每一位來這裡慶祝特別時刻的客人一直到今天。 Restaurant ANDRE 只有我在廚房的時候才營業；我會逐桌的跟每位客人打招呼問候，確認我每晚的 30 位客人來這裡用餐是開心的；我的太太每天親自打理店裡的花藝、香氛、甚至是化妝室。每一次晚餐前，我們會移動整棟餐廳的桌子，從一樓到三樓來來回回的調整，爲的是讓整個空間能完美的滿足每一位來這裡的客人的目的，直到現在我們還是堅持這樣做。
我們要隨性的創作料理，當我們覺得當天的菜單應該怎麼做最好時，我們就怎麼做，同一天裡的午餐與晚餐絕對不會有任何一道重複的料理，直到現在我們還是這麼做。我們下定決心要讓新加坡以我們爲傲，要讓亞洲以我們爲榮，要成爲世界上最棒的餐廳之一，我們辦到了，而且我們還在繼續的這樣做。
儘管我們想要做或是想要達成的事情從來沒有人做過，但我們從來沒有絲毫的疑慮；因爲我們打從心裡知道我們獨一無二，而且我們會心無旁鶩的努力達成我們心目中的「完美」。
在我的自傳「初心」封面上有句話：「當我覺得一道菜完美的時候，就是我放手的時候。」
我13歲就開始做菜了，到這個月我的專業料理生涯就剛好滿30年。我想重回原點，調整未來人生的方向，重拾最初做菜時的快樂。我總是問我的夥伴們：「你爲什麼想成爲一名廚師？」，不是爲了出名，不是爲了有幾千人來按贊；應該是爲了料理出一道道美好美味的料理時帶來的快樂，而且透過成爲一個專業廚師的重要過程，成爲一個更好的人。此刻，我很驕傲地看着Restaurant ANDRE的每一位夥伴都成爲「誠實–熱情–創意–靈活–還有正面積極的獨立個體」。
我們在這裡打造了這絕無僅有，讓人難以置信的一切一切。
在這裡，我江振誠僅代表新加坡Restaurant ANDRE宣佈，餐廳在2018年二月即將有重大的改造，明年初開始我也將重新調整我生活的重心，因此，我將歸還米其林二星，同時提醒2018年的新版新加坡米其林指南請將Restaurant ANDRE排除在考量之列。循着米其林指南在亞洲區的發展腳步，我知道米其林即將在曼谷與臺灣推出(我的餐廳之一RAW坐落於臺北)。我衷心的期待RAW是一個單純的所在，在這裡未來我會更專注在教育與培養人才，在我從Restaurant ANDRE退役後能在這裡更單純享受做菜的樂趣，因此，我也懇請將臺灣（或臺北）米其林指南的垂愛留給RAW以外的餐廳。
你或許會問：「爲什麼是現在？」因爲，此刻我人生中最棒的時刻，每天我走進餐廳，走進廚房，我看到每個人，每件事都井然有序，閃閃發亮，無懈可擊；我從來沒看過任何一家餐廳像這裡這麼棒！這裡的每位夥伴都如我所求的那般完美，這個完美的團隊應該將是我這輩子僅見，而且我們一起達成了所有我們想達成的一切。
江振誠將帶着他的夥伴在2018年2月14日，爲Restaurant ANDRE畫上句點，在那之後，2018與2019我們將會有幾個新計劃，我們將在近期內儘快讓大家知道。
30年的職業料理生涯裡，回到40多年前我出生的故鄉- 臺灣，一直都是我的夢想。在這片土地上，我將傾我所有的氣力將經驗與知識傳承給臺灣與中國的新世代，我責無旁貸；給年輕的廚師們更好的教育與餐飲文化對我來說更是刻不容緩。即便Restaurant ANDRE所成就的這一切即將結束在世界美食版圖裡，走入所有熱愛美食的你們的回憶裡，我已無憾，因爲我們已經爲新加坡爲亞洲做到我們想成就的一切。
現在，我 要回家了。
「我一向追求完美。此刻，就是完美。」
江振誠英文版To my Dear friends and Beloved guests,
“I’m a perfectionist and for the past 30 years of my career, I’ve been looking for that unrealistic “moment of perfection”; Three Michelin stars, World’s Top 50 restaurant… until now I realized, at this moment- It is perfect as it is”
Since day one of Restaurant ANDRE I told myself I want to let all my diners have a hand-written card by me when they celebrate their special moment with us; until today, Restaurant ANDRE would only open for operation when I myself am cooking; I will greet every table, every single guest, make sure we have 30 happy guests every service; my wife will decorate the restaurant everyday personally- flower arrangement, room scent and even down to every single toiletry…
We move around the tables of the entire restaurant from 1st to 3rd floor every single service, change the configuration to fit perfectly the room and the agenda of each guest; we are still doing it. We decide to change the menu spontaneously whenever we want, not a single overlap dish from lunch to dinner on the same day; we are still doing it. We were determined to make Singapore proud, make Asia proud, to be one of the best restaurants in the world; we did it, and are still doing it!
We never doubted ourselves, although everything we try to achieve, no one has ever done it before, but that doesn’t matter, because we know we are unique and we are striving for our “perfection”.
I have a quote on the cover of my biography, it says: “The moment I perfect a dish, is the moment I let go from my menu”
I started to cook since I was 13, and this month will be the 30th year of my professional culinary journey.
I want to go back to where I started, I want to go back to cooking, have a balanced life and cook happily.
I always ask this of my brigade, “Why you want to be a chef?” The happiness of cooking a beautiful, tasty dish, not for the fame, not for having a thousand Likes, but through the process of being a true professional, makes us a better person; now I’m so proud to see that each one of Restaurant ANDRE’s team being Honest- Passionate- Creative- Flexible- and Positive individuals.
WE HAVE BUILT SOMETHING UNBEATABLE AND UNBELIEVABLE HERE.
I am writing to officially inform you that I, Andre Chiang, on behalf of Restaurant ANDRE in Singapore, am preparing for a significant transformation by February 2018; specifically, I have decided to re-prioritize my professional life from early next year, and as such, I wish to kindly return my Michelin stars and also request to not be included in the 2018 edition of the Michelin Guide Singapore. Following Michelin Guide’s expansion in Asia, I understand that Michelin will soon launch new editions in Bangkok and Taiwan (where my other restaurant RAW is located in Taipei). As my hope is that RAW will be the pure place where I can focus on educating, developing others, and cooking after my retirement from Restaurant ANDRE, I also request that RAW not be included in the Michelin Guide Taiwan (or Taipei).
You might ask, why now? Because this is the best moment of my life, I walked into the restaurant, into the kitchen, I see everyone, everything in order, polished, flawless, I have never seen any restaurant like this! Every one of them is everything I hoped for, this is the perfect team that I will not see anywhere else again, and we have achieved everything we want to achieve.
Andre and his brigade will serve their last service at Restaurant ANDRE on the 14th of February 2018; after this, there will be a few projects in 2018 and 2019, of which we wish to share with you more in the near future.
After thirty years of a professional culinary career, returning to where I was born forty years ago has always been my dream, passing on everything I have to the next generation in Taiwan and China is my duty, and providing young chefs a better education and culinary culture is an urgent priority for me. Although Restaurant ANDRE’s legacy will soon become a fond memory to the world’s gourmets, I have no regrets, as we have achieved all that we have wanted to for Singapore and for Asia.
Now, it is time for me to go home.
“I’m a perfectionist, and this is perfect.”
Andre Chiang