Chie AndoChef and Author Making food,and sharingwhat makes it good.
About
Chie Ando安藤 千英
Chef Author
Raw food and Japanese fermentation are at the heart of her work: recipe development, teaching, food styling, photography, film and books. From making a dish to sharing what makes it good, she does it with her own hands.
Born in Fukuoka in 1973, Chie grew up as the eldest daughter of a long-established Japanese restaurant family, in a home where cooking was always close at hand.
A family event led her to look closely at food, and she went on to study raw food, fermentation, koji and the microbiome.
She opened her cooking school in 2016 and moved it to Tokyo in 2021, starting again as &LAB TOKYO. Today, from Omotesando and Jingumae in Tokyo, she proposes “Shin Living Food” — raw food brought together with Japan’s fermentation culture.
Recognition
- ELLE gourmetOfficially recognised chef, ELLE gourmet Japan
- FOX WFXRFeatured on FOX WFXR and CBS42 (USA) for her work with Kuvings, 2025
- Japan Vegan AwardNominee, 2024
What I Do
Making food,and sharing it.
She develops recipes, styles them, photographs them, and shares them on film, online and in books. As a chef, she treats everything from the first idea for a dish to the way it reaches people as one piece of work.
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01 Create
Recipes and teaching
Built on raw food and fermentation, her recipes are made to work in a home kitchen. In class, she teaches the reasons behind each step, not just the steps.
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02 Style
Food styling
Plates, light and space — she looks for the form that shows a dish at its best.
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03 Capture
Photography and film
Through the eyes of the person who made it, she records the texture of each ingredient and the movement of the hands.
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04 Share
Film, web and books
Through &LAB TOKYO, brand content and books, she shares what makes food good.
&LAB TOKYO
A food lab whereyou learn the reasons.
Chie runs a school where raw food, fermentation, raw chocolate and raw sweets are learned from the reasons behind them. Classes take place in her kitchen in Omotesando / Jingumae, Tokyo, and online.
- Founder
- &LAB TOKYO
- Representative
- Raw Chocolatier Association
- Created
- The Fermentation Alchemist Course, Raw Chocolate Meister®, Raw Patissier® and other courses
- Director
- Spirulina LAB (a collaboration with DIC Corporation)
Why fermentation and raw food belong in one room
Raw food is defined by a temperature: nothing goes above roughly 48°C. Koji fermentation is defined by a living organism doing slow work at low temperature. Look at them from a distance and they seem unrelated — one is a Californian idea from the 1970s, the other is centuries of Japanese household practice. Look closely and they share the same constraint, and the same answer to it.
What comes out of putting them together is not a compromise. Koji gives sweetness a depth that maple syrup on its own cannot reach. Raw preparation gives fermented seasonings a place in dishes where they would normally be cooked away. We teach both because the interesting part is where they meet.
We do not teach either of them as a diet, and we do not make claims about what they will do for your body. We teach how they are made.
Credentials
Credentials
Publishing
- Author of &RAW LIVING Step 1 — The Raw Food Textbook (No. 1 on Amazon Japan)
- Producer of the book The Happy Sweets Textbook (No. 1 on Amazon Japan)
- Runs the publishing studio Creative Book Lab
Recognition and ambassadorships
- Officially recognised chef, ELLE gourmet Japan
- Official ambassador for Kuvings
- Official ambassador for veggy
- Formerly spice ambassador for GABAN and ambassador for MATEUS
Work with companies
- Spirulina LAB, a collaboration with DIC Corporation
- Collaboration apron with “TOKERU.” by ARIVE Inc. × &LAB TOKYO
- Food styling for DIC Corporation’s spirulina product photography (California, USA, 2018; again in 2019)
- Food styling for product photography of “Buono Sano” by Aoyama Sukoyaka
- Recipes for AquaClara
- Event appearance for Sapporo Breweries
Qualifications and trademarks
- JLBA Raw Food Meister, Level 1
- International Raw Food Producer
- Hakko Soka®
- Raw Chocolatier® registered as a trademark (2022)
Media
- 2025TV Asahi “Good! Morning” / CBS42 and FOX WFXR (USA) featured her work with Kuvings / recipes for ELLE gourmet
- 2024veggy vol. 96 / nominated for the Japan Vegan Award / ELLE gourmet
- 2023ELLE gourmet / judge at the Suizenji-nori recipe competition
Creative Works
Food Styling / Photography / Movie
Making food,
and showing what makes each dish good.
Most of the food photographs &LAB TOKYO shares are her own work, from recipe development and styling to the photograph itself.
She also creates food visuals for books, the web and brands, and short films for events and social media.
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Photography
Books / Food / Products / Brand content
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Movie
Event / Food / Short Film / Social Media
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Food Creation
Recipe Development / Styling / Direction
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PlateRapeseed blossom salad -
LifestyleBagel sandwiches -
TableA shared table -
Raw ChocolateRaw chocolate and a drink -
Raw SweetsBlue raw sweets -
SeasonalA corn dish
Practical facts
| Where | Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo. Walking distance from Gaienmae, Omotesando, Sendagaya and Kokuritsu-Kyogijo stations. The exact address is sent after booking. |
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| Group size | One to four people |
| Food | Our menus are plant-based by default, and every lesson can be prepared fully vegan — just let us know. Please tell us about any food allergies or dietary requirements when you book. Our kitchen uses a wide range of ingredients, including soy, nuts, sesame and fermented seasonings. Although nuts may not be used in your class menu, they are handled in the same kitchen. |
| Language | Lessons are taught in Japanese and can be joined in simple English. KIKI KOJI LAB is hosted by Chie in simple English with an English guide; UMAMI & KOJI LAB includes English-speaking support staff. |
| Online | Most of our courses, including the Fermentation Alchemist Course, can also be taken online, from anywhere. The koji experiences for visitors — KIKI KOJI LAB, MISO UMAMI LAB and UMAMI & KOJI LAB — take place in person in our kitchen in Tokyo. An online session may be possible, but it needs special preparation, including the ingredients, so please contact us first. Joining in simple English costs nothing extra; fuller language support can be arranged for an additional fee. Video-only lessons in English are in preparation. |
Work With Me
Food projects —
let’s work together.
Chie welcomes enquiries from publishers, food companies and brands.
Please get in touch, even at the planning stage.
- Recipe development
- Food styling
- Food photography
- Video production
- Books and content
- Publishing production
- Talks and events