• ANDŌ AND BANGKOK’S ONE MICHELIN-STARRED WANA YOOK COME TOGETHER FOR A TWO-CITY COLLABORATION THIS OCTOBER WITH A FOCUS ON FIRE & WATER  

    Bangkok’s celebrated Chef Chalee Kader brings the bold flavours of Wana Yook to Andō in Hong Kong on 6-7 October

    Please click here to download Ando & Wana Yook’s High Resolution Images

    [18th September 2026 – Hong Kong] This October, Andō (one MICHELIN-starred & most recently new DIAMOND award winner from Trip. Gourmet) welcomes one MICHELIN-starred Wana Yook from Bangkok for the first time in Hong Kong for a special two-night collaboration in Hong Kong, bringing together Executive Chef Agustin Ferrando Balbi and Thai-Indian chef Chalee Kader for the first chapter of a two-city exchange. Taking place at Andō on 6 and 7 October 2026, the collaboration will present a special tasting menu priced at HK$2,580 + 10% per guest. The chefs will reunite in Bangkok on 15 October 2026 for the second chapter at Wana Yook. The theme of the dinner will focus on FIRE, from the heat of Wana Yook and WATER, from the sea-based cuisine of ANDO.

    The collaboration brings together two restaurants with deeply personal approaches to cuisine. At Andō, Chef Balbi draws upon his Argentine heritage and the years he spent cooking in Japan, expressed through a style that moves fluidly between cultures and techniques. At Wana Yook, Chef Kader revisits the flavours and traditions of Thailand through a contemporary tasting-menu format, taking inspiration from regional recipes, familiar dishes and the country’s ubiquitous khao gaeng, or rice-and-curry culture.

    When Fire Meets Water

    For their Hong Kong collaboration, the chefs have created a menu shaped by the contrasting ideas of fire and water.

    Chef Kader takes on FIRE, drawing on the heat, spice and aromatic intensity that run through Thai cuisine. Chef Balbi responds with WATER, using seafood, citrus, chilled preparations and oceanic flavours to create a lighter counterpoint. Rather than merging their cooking into a single style, the menu allows each chef’s identity to remain distinct, with dishes presented in conversation with one another throughout the evening.

     

    The experience begins with Kao Soi by Wana Yook, Kader’s interpretation of the northern Thai curry noodle dish, layered with herbs, crisp textures and beef curry. Andō follows with a delicate tart of Kinmedai, Lemon Gel, Uni and Baby Basil, combining raw kinmedai with cucumber, smoked soy sauce and citrus.

    The dialogue continues with Wana Yook’s Kung Chae Naam Pla, pairing amaebi with turmeric, lime and chilli alongside pomelo, bitter gourd and shallots. Its heat is followed by Andō’s chilled Buri, Citric Panna Cotta, Umami Sauce and Ginger-Lime Granita, featuring cured buri with yuzu panna cotta and a ginger-led leche de tigre.

    For Wana Yook’s Tom Jiw of Scallops, Kader turns to a warming broth infused with beetroot and sweet potato, finished with pepper, fresh chilli and holy basil. Balbi answers with Coral Grouper, Seaweed, Crêpe and Maitake: crisp-scaled coral grouper with an aonori, butter and Champagne sauce, accompanied by a seaweed crêpe filled with maitake mushrooms and finished with dashi foam.

    A Thai-Inspired Rice Course

    Rice brings the two chefs together for the main savoury course. Wana Yook presents Coconut Rice, steamed with coconut solids, alongside Curry Tumis, a Melayu-influenced curry prepared with mussels or clams. Hormok Morel transforms another familiar Thai flavour profile, filling morel mushrooms with a mousse of fish and red curry paste.

    The evening then moves into dessert with Andō’s Air Chocolate, Coconut and Dulce de Leche, combining 62% chocolate, dulce de leche ice cream, coconut foam and a crisp cacao tuile. Petit fours complete the menu with one final exchange between Bangkok and Hong Kong: Wana Yook’s Bua Loy, rice cake with taro in coconut milk, alongside Andō’s Fig and Ricotta Tart.

    About Chef Chalee Kader & Wana Yook

    Born to a Thai mother and Indian father, Chalee Kader is a chef and restaurateur whose career spans nearly two decades. His culinary journey began in the United States before taking him back to Thailand, where he spent six years as Chef Cuisinier at the French Embassy in Bangkok before establishing his own restaurants. Today, Kader is behind several of Bangkok’s recognised dining concepts, including 100 Mahaseth, Wana Yook and Soma. He has served as Executive Chef and Co-owner of Wana Yook since 2021.

    Set within a century-old house in Bangkok, one MICHELIN-starred Wana Yook presents Chalee Kader’s contemporary interpretation of Thai cuisine through seasonal tasting menus inspired by recipes and flavours from across the country. Central to the experience is khao gaeng, Thailand’s everyday tradition of rice served with curries and accompaniments, reimagined through regional ingredients, spice profiles and cooking traditions in a contemporary fine-dining format.

    Andō x Wana Yook – Hong Kong

    Dates: 6 & 7 October 2026

    Venue: Andō, 1/F, Somptueux Central, 52 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong

    Price: HK$2,580 + 10% per guest

    Andō x Wana Yook – Bangkok

    Date: 15 October 2026

    Venue: Wana Yook, Bangkok

    Price: THB5,900++ per guest

    For reservations enquiries, contact the guest relations team via WhatsApp +852 9161 8697, or book online HERE.

    <<ENDS>>

    ABOUT ANDŌ

    One MICHELIN-starred Andō is Argentine Chef Agustin Ferrando Balbi’s first restaurant, launched in partnership with JIA group since July 2020. Defying labels and bending genres, Andō’s modern tasting menus are a translation of Agustin’s own unorthodox journey onto the plate, one that nods at his ancestral roots in Italy and Spain, while gazing at the lands that shaped his craft – the USA and Japan.

    Address: 1/F, Somptueux Central, 52 Wellington St, Central, Hong Kong
    Website – www.andohk.com

    Instagram: @ando.hkg @agux1988 @carlito.gorgor

    AWARDS AND ACCOLADES – ANDŌ

    * One MICHELIN Star – MICHELIN Guide Hong Kong Macau 2021-2026

    * #41 – Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2025

    * #27 – OAD 2025 Top Asian Restaurants

    * Top 20 Restaurants of Hong Kong – Tatler Dining Asia 2021-2026

    * Restaurant of the Year – Tatler Dining 2024

    * Best Sommelier – Tatler Dining 2024

    * One Diamond Award – Black Pearl Restaurant Guide 2023 + 2024 + 2025 + 2026

    * Marca Pais Cultural Ambassador Award by Government of Argentina Ambassador of More Good Charity

    * Bazaar Taste Elite – Harper’s Bazaar 2024 + 2025 + 2026

    * Top 100 Restaurants of Asia – Tatler Asia Best of Asia

    * Top 30 Restaurants of Hong Kong – Travel & Leisure Asia 2023 + 2024 + 2025

    * Best Sommelier (Carlito Chiu) – MICHELIN Guide Hong Kong Macau 2025

    * Platinum Award – Trip.Gourmet 2026 The Global Selection of Restaurant

    * Best Sommelier (Carlito Chiu) – Tatler Best 2025

    * Three Knives Award – Best Chef Awards 2025

    * Best Sommelier – Harpers Bazaar Hong Kong 2026

    * Diamond Award – Trip.Gourmet 2026 The Global Selection of Restaurant

    ABOUT JIA GROUP

    JIA Group is a Hong Kong based hospitality firm that is internationally praised and recognized for executing spaces and experiences rooted in style and substance. Founded in 2004 by entrepreneur Yenn Wong, JIA Group has established a reputation internationally as an award- winning trendsetter in the hospitality industry. The current portfolio includes 10 venues in Hong Kong, full list of the restaurants and bars could be found on JIA’s website here.

    www.jiagroup.co