André Chiang

André Chiang (Chinese: 江振誠; pinyin: Jiāng Zhènchéng) is a Taiwanese chef and owner of five restaurants. He is the former head chef of the three Michelin star restaurant Le Jardin des Sens in France. He is known for his "Octo-philosophy" of eight elements which make up his dishes. In 2017, his Michelin 2-star eponymous Restaurant André was named the Best Restaurant in Singapore, and the second-best in Asia by Restaurant magazine.

André Chiang was born in Taiwan, but spent his early life in Japan where he learnt to cook from his mother. He initially expected to follow her into the family business and eventually take over but found that his imagination was limited and wanted to learn the food of other cuisines. He specifically wanted to learn French cuisine because he felt that it was most unobtainable.

Chiang moved to France, initially expecting to stay for a short period and return to Asia. Instead, he spent the next fifteen years living there having gained a position at the three Michelin star restaurant Le Jardin des Sens run by Jacques and Laurent Pourcel despite Chiang not speaking any French at the time. Over the course of the next nine years, Chiang worked his way up through the kitchen to the position of chef de cuisine. During his time in France, he also spent time in the kitchens of La Maison Troisgros, L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon and Restaurant Pierre Gagnaire.

After his time in France, Chiang took a position at the Maia Luxury Resort in the Seychelles, a move that he later credited with allowing him to discover his own style of cooking as he felt that following his work in French restaurants that he had forgotten what it was that he wanted to create. It was during this time that he developed his "Octo-philosophy" of preparing dishes, which he describes as the eight elements of "pure, salt, artisan, south, texture, unique, memory and terroir". He described the meaning of pure as presenting the dish without seasoning, but allowing each item on the plate to naturally complement each other.