The Buyer | Laurent-Perrier and A. Wong – two great innovators meet head-to-head

A.Wong opened in 2013 when Andrew took over his father’s generic Chinese restaurant in Pimlico and transformed it into what it is today – the only 2-Michelin star Chinese restaurant outside Asia. Armed with an LSE anthropology degree and a love of cooking, Andrew gained first-hand experience of the diversity of Chinese gastronomy through extensive touring in China – which informs the tasting menu which includes all of China’s 14 international borders through 100+ ingredients.

A meal here is a gastronomic marathon par excellence – an homage to a Chinese Imperial Banquet, that used to have 110 dishes all served together.

Thankfully, at an exclusive dinner to illustrate the gastronomic qualities of Laurent-Perrier’s prestige cuvée Grand Siècle, we are served a mere 30 dishes in four multi-dish themed ‘courses’, each being driven by a boundary-breaking imagination that elicited in the assembled guests a sense of culinary shock and awe.

The sense of fun that is also part of this pursuit of perfection is enough to forgive a name change of the restaurant from A.Wong to A.Wonka.

Andrew Wong’s freedom to innovate is partly down to the restaurant’s location far away from Chinatown (and its traditional expectations) but also down to the fact that it always was and still is a family-run business.

This is a key point which Andrew makes to the assembled guests before disappearing into the kitchen and which Lucie Pereyre de Nonancourt re-iterates when explaining the importance of Laurent-Perrier as a family owned and run business; with owner control comes freedom of expression and the ability to make long-term decisions without any outside force dictating otherwise.

The innovation that is core to Laurent-Perrier, Lucie attributes to her great grandmother who took over the estate in 1939 and “changed the style of the wines to freshness, purity and elegance.” She bucked a trend by making Chardonnay the main grape, using steel tank instead of wood, and insisting that the champagne the House made reflected the terroir.

The three key innovations that followed have since become USPs and cornerstones of the House style – blending reserve wines, crafting zero dosage champagne, and mastering the production of rosé from cold maceration when 90-95% of the market is still made by blending red and white wines.

Innovation behind Grand Siècle

With the focus of the evening’s tasting being on Grand Siècle, Laurent-Perrier’s triumphant pinnacle of blended reserves, Lucie explained how it was another series of innovations implemented by her grandfather Bernard de Nonancourt (who took over the House after the Second World War), which led to the creation of this extraordinary champagne.

“My grandfather had this vision of creating the perfect vintage,” she explained, “all of the champagnes at that time were based on vintage and my grandfather felt that they were all great but never perfect.” His solution was to blend three vintages and then age them for at least ten years in the cellar. “The blend is the DNA of the prestige cuvée – and pushing it to the extreme,” she says.

The first Grand Siècle was released in 1959 and each "Iteration" since represents a specific blend crafted from three exceptional vintage years, numbered and possessing its own distinct character. The name refers to France’s ‘Great 17th Century’ that was celebrated for innovation and the pursuit of perfection.

Since its inception there have been just 27 “Iterations”, reflecting once again the family’s thirst for perfection. Likewise, the Brut Millésime 2018, served as an aperitif at our evening, is only the third vintage to be declared by Laurent-Perrier in the past decade – a noble position facilitated by this family ownership but also driven by the need to have Pinot Noir and Chardonnay both ripen to perfection in the same year.

Chilled Laurent-Perrier Brut Millésime 2018 served once we had made our way out of heatwave London and past eight members of A.Wong’s welcoming staff was pure manna from heaven.

It was an ‘amuse bouche’ of course as the vinous main event was the Grand Siècle of which we had three Iterations –Nº27, Nº24 and Nº22 with the latter served alongside Alexandra Rosé Millésimé 2012.

Pairing Grand Siècle with A.Wong’s two star Chinese food

And so to the meal itself which is a modern British re-take of traditional Cantonese cuisine – in all its splendid variety of sensations. Facing off the inevitable question about authentic and inauthentic Chinese cuisine, Andrew explains his approach as a journey away from the traditional relics of the past.

“The innovation of today has the potential to become the authenticity of tomorrow. So, you either reluctantly hold onto these relics or you embrace the journey, and our approach to cuisine is about embracing that journey and where it takes us.”

So no sweet and sour pork then… but what a journey Andrew takes us on.

The first of the four multi-dish servings began with what was titled “The Banquet” which clearly indicated that we were set for a dining experience like no other. Eight dishes impeccably presented, elaborately constructed and, most importantly, infused with Andrew’s skilled judgment of flavour. Whether it was the hit of fresh wasabi soy and osmanthus jelly which enveloped French beans or the trout roe, chilli and garlic vinegar that framed the ‘smacked’ chilled cucumber, each dish was symphonic – so much more than the sum of its parts – and, like the wines that accompanied it, perfectly balanced.

The Banquet was served with

Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle Itération Nº27

2015, 2013, 2012 Disgorged 05/25 CH 60% PN 40% Dosage 7g/l

This is a precise, fresh wine that starts with notes of apricot tart and lemon blossom and then reveals its core of chalky tension, hits of roasted nut, saline and caramel. More and more nuances in the wine were highlighted by each dish – the sweetness of the ‘Tiger salad’ that accompanied the cumin lamb; the shrimp caramel that was part of a sweet potato and tamarind dish. With each dish the bright, energetic, citrus mousse cleansed the palate.

The second course “Dim Sum” followed which included one of Andrew’s many signature dishes, ‘Why we don’t need to eat shark’s fin soup’, and Raw wagyu with fermented meat paste.

Dim Sum was served with

Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle Itération Nº24 (magnum)

2007, 2006, 2004 Disgorged 06/24 CH 55% PN 45% Dosage 7g/l

The single bottle of Itération Nº24 was released in 2019 while the magnum was released last year (ie 16 years on lees) eliciting even greater aromatic depth and complexity on the palate. There is a touch of spice which picked out detail throughout this course, flint, a core of citrus with white flowers, white chocolate and toasted nuts that was a perfect pairing with the Braised abalone, shitake mushroom, sea cucumber and abalone butter.

“Five Flavours” was the next course and included such monumental creations as ‘Soy chicken’ with ginger oil and Oscietra caviar wrap and Chrysanthemum tofu in lemongrass broth which had tofu shredded to resemble an opening flower in a sumptuous lemon-infused chicken and miso jelly.

Five Flavours was served with

Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle Itération Nº22 (magnum)

2004, 2002, 1999 Disgorged 05/19 CH 55% PN 45% Dosage 7g/l

and

Alexandra Rosé Millésimé 2012

CH 20% PN 80% co-fermented and aged for 10 years

A fascinating double bill here with the Itération Nº22 a deep coloured, generous, honied wine highlighting the earthier components of the Five Flavours course – truffle, candied walnuts, soy, seared beef and ‘cashew nuts spiced squid ink’ and the Alexandra Rosé a blood-orange coloured delight, highlighting the fruitier elements of the dishes – the pomelo salad that accompanied the Pulled noodle cracker and the Oscietra caviar wrap.

The “Fruits” course followed, which was sensibly paired with a Baijiu and Chambord cocktail.

In conclusion

It would be foolhardy to dissect each of the eight dishes served with each Grand Siècle Itération given the diversity of aromas, textures and flavours on show – and (unlike many gastronomic pairing evenings) Andrew Wong had obviously not attempted to construct a new 30-course menu to pair with the wines!

The key takeaway, however, was that with almost every single dish the Grand Siècle paired magnificently – the elaborate construct of each morsel of food teasing out a corresponding nuance within the layered, complex champagne.

The experience was less about enhancing the food but more about understanding the complexity of the wine – breaking down its many layers like decoding a vinous Rubik’s cube. Seared shellfish would elicit a sweet and saline note in the wine, the cherry wood smoke captured in the steamer bearing the ‘Memories of Peking Duck’ revealed toasted brioche on the finish of another cuvée and so on.

I have previously been to an (equally brave) launch of a new Barolo portfolio at another well-regarded Chinese restaurant in London where half of the dishes worked well but half of the wines were ‘killed’ by the dishes. Serving a number of Grand Siècle Itérations at A.Wong was a far better choice – these are stunning champagnes which elevated the evening’s banquet to a truly imperial level.

And a special mention should go to Andrew Wong and his magnificent team for not only producing a feast that will live long in the mind but who also had to accommodate such a complex itinerary of dietaries. The table I sat at had two vegetarians, one pescatarian, one oyster intolerant, one non- bi-valve and lamb and one non-molusc. This manifested itself on the table as three versions of almost every dish – each just as brilliantly presented and constructed as the main menu dish. Chapeau! or should that be 恭喜!

After 41 years A.Wong is moving from Pimlico to allow a refurbishment of the restaurant and will be in residence at the Mandarin Oriental Mayfair, serving the two-Michelin-starred 'Collections of China' menu each evening from 18 August to 26 September (last service at Wilton Road will be on August 1).