Profile | How private kitchen chef, 20, in Hong Kong got a thing for cooking when he baked cookies aged 8, and dropped out of school to train as a cook

Andrew Wong may be young, but his age belies his dedication to cooking – the 20-year-old private kitchen chef cooks up eight-course dinners on a biweekly basis

He started cooking when he was eight and has not stopped since – even dropping out of regular education to join a culinary school when he was 16

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Chef Andrew Wong. The 20-year-old dropped out of school to attend Le Cordon Bleu in New Zealand and now runs his own private kitchen, preparing biweekly eight-course dinners at his family’s Hong Kong home. Photo: Edmond So

Published: 4:15pm, 9 Nov 2023Updated: 10:03am, 12 Nov 2023

It is no secret that Hong Kong is home to many exceptional chefs, who regularly showcase dishes from their restaurants through social media.

Upon glancing at Andrew Wong’s Instagram feed – a curation of aesthetically pleasing plates – you might mistake him for one of these chefs. Clues from his bio and Story highlights, which reveal he is 20 and cooks in a private kitchen, reveal otherwise.

In actuality, Wong is mostly self-taught and single-handedly cooks eight-course private dinners on a biweekly basis.

At first glance, he comes across as somewhat reticent and a little introverted. But when he talks about the intricacies of preparing a dish, that initial modesty disappears and his eyes shine with a quiet but assured confidence.

Wong cooks a sourdough loaf. Photo: Edmond So

Wong has been cooking and baking for 12 years, and made his first foray into the kitchen to make chocolate chip cookies when he was eight years old.

He was instantly hooked and, with the help of his family’s domestic helper, Dada, he followed the cookies with a flurry of baked goods including breads and French macarons – notoriously finicky.