Celebrity chef Andre Chiang announces retirement, closure of restaurant Raw

Taiwanese celebrity chef Andre Chiang announced his retirement “from the frontline of restaurants” on Monday (Jul 29) at a press conference held at his restaurant, the French “bistronomy” style Raw. 
Raw, Chiang’s restaurant in Zhongshan District’s Dazhi area in Taipei, Taiwan, will cease operations on Dec 31. It opened in 2014. 
Instead of being a complete closure, the restaurateur said there are plans to transform the restaurant space into an international culinary centre “for nurturing and training young Asian chefs”.
His ambition for the academy is to produce “10 to 20 Michelin-quality chefs every year”. No date has been set for the commencement of the culinary facility.
Chiang is no stranger to nurturing young talent in the culinary field, having mentored pastry chef Mohamad Al-Matin and chef Zor Tan, who had helmed Restaurant Andre, Raw and Sichuan Moon and is now chef-owner of one-Michelin-starred Restaurant Born.
Raw will begin serving its final menu, themed The Last Dance, from Aug 16 until the last day of operations on Dec 31. The final menu is described as “a personal love letter to everyone who loves Andre and his cuisine”.
The acclaimed chef doesn’t rule out the possibility of future pop-ups.
He recently ran a sold-out 12-day residency at Raffles Hotel Singapore in May this year.
He also helmed the Michelin-starred Restaurant Andre in Singapore, which closed in 2018.