Alan Yau, founder of Wagamama, Yauatcha and Hakkasan, is coming back to London with not one but three new openings next year, two in Canary Wharf and one at Westfield in Shepherd’s Bush. Of the two Docklands sites, both in the Wardian London development, Chyna will be the biggest with Yau likening the 120-cover seafood restaurant and terrace to a ‘Chinese River Cafe’. The restaurant will showcase Cantonese cooking and British and European produce, and it’ll have its own tanks where you can choose your fish from. Yau will also be opening the smaller, 45-cover Japanese restaurant Yau Grilling in the same complex.
On the other side of town Yau will be bringing back his pide concept Yamabahçe, giving it a permanent home in Westfield following its pop-up in Marylebone. All three restaurants are set to open in 2020 so it looks like Yau is going to have a very busy year ahead.