RECIPE FOR SUCCESS Food wasn't and still isn't my first choice [of career], especially not after the experience my father had opening a Chinese takeaway in Norfolk [eastern England] in the 1970s. However, I opened a Chinese takeaway as a hobby in my early 20s, when I was working for GKN [an aerospace company] in Peterborough. I made my money back [GBP50,000] in six months and so commissioned the ex-chairman of KFC UK to see if Chinese food could be produced in a fast-food format, like McDonald's. In the end it wasn't feasible. I returned to Hong Kong for a few months to work with McDonald's and that is where the idea for Wagamama came from. I opened Wagamama [a noodle canteen in a minimalist basement] in 1992 in Bloomsbury [in central London] and another in south London. The concept was based on ramen noodles, which is essentially a Chinese dish that was adopted and adapted by the Japanese. I thought it quite funny for a Chinaman to do ramen. I brought in venture capitalists to fund expansion but ... I don't want to talk about that episode now. I sold my last shares in 1997.
NEW TERRITORY I am the second of six children born in the New Territories [Sha Tau Kok] and we moved to King's Lynn [Norfolk] when I was 12, in 1975. It was a bit of a cultural shift but I have no regrets. It was extremely difficult to settle because of the cultural and language barriers but I think it was good for us. You do suffer as an immigrant wherever you go, especially coming from an extremely poor background, which made it 10 times worse. In those days, there was a tremendous amount of racism but it made me who I am. In my Hong Kong days I didn't value education but going to Norfolk as a poor immigrant I realised education is the only way out. I went on to study politics and then to do management training with GKN.
EMPIRE STRIKES BACK After Wagamama, I went on to open Busaba Eathai in 1999 [which became a chain of three], Hakkasan in 2001 and Yauatcha [both Michelin-star Chinese restaurants in London's Soho; Yauatcha is a teahouse and dim-sum restaurant] in 2004, Sake No Hana [Japanese] in 2007 and Cha Cha Moon [a budget noodle bar] in 2008. I see ideas in a holistic fashion. I like to deliver more than people expect. I have the ability to make certain cooking more accessible to a wider audience. I don't set out to create trendy places as that signifies, to me, the beginning of the end. I like to deliver good taste. The French word elegance is important to me. It's best translated as 'considered': that's what I try to achieve.
PACKING MY BAGS I sold Hakkasan, Yauatcha and Busaba Eathai in 2008. A lot of people think it was good timing in relation to the credit crunch later that year but I wanted to sell because I was in my mid-40s and had aspirations for something potentially even more rewarding, a much bigger idea. A good concept takes five to 10 years to mature and you've got to work with something that drives you. A bigger idea is more exciting and challenging: it's like that Chinese proverb: 'like riding a tiger'. The opportunities are no longer there in the UK because of the fiscal debt and banks in real terms don't lend any more. I'm moving back to Hong Kong at Chinese New Year. I want to work in a single territory that's big enough and dynamic enough for me to fast-track an idea. However, I'm still going to have a business [in Britain] but I will be travelling from Hong Kong to London every fortnight and not the other way around.
HUNGRY FOR MORE I'm planning a couple of ideas in London that I would like to get off the ground this year - a Chinese restaurant but something a bit more wild. My interests in Sake No Hana [owned by Russian tycoon Evgeny Lebedev] and Princi [a Milanese bakery in Soho] will continue. I usually don't do an active partnership with someone else's brand but I met Rocco Princi, the chef-owner, and thought the quality of his product truly amazing. I also have a Chinese restaurant opening in Monte Carlo early in 2011. My plan in Hong Kong is to acquire a couple of restaurant sites on the island. One will serve Thai and the other an all-day Western-style brunch. I have learnt that when the time is right, everything comes together. When the time is not right, even if you push it, nothing comes. I have learnt to be more patient and philosophical. That notion is almost spiritual.
NOURISHMENT FOR THE SPIRIT I am going to be ordained [today] as a Buddhist monk, at Wat [Phra] Dhammakaya, outside Bangkok, where I will spend six weeks. It's taken me eight months to get to this point. It's not a lifetime commitment but a full-time commitment for the heart. I do a lot of meditation already, as it is a good way for me to get rid of stress. I meditate back to the core; it allows me to be more intuitive. The reason I would like to go through this process is because I would like to raise my spiritual awareness: to learn the concept of giving in a true and meaningful way and understand the idea of compassion. I would like to devote more of my time to this, as I grow older. This will be about spiritual enlightenment and acquiring the knowledge of life. We all have a higher purpose in this world. My next ambition, then, will be to learn about Tibetan Buddhism and I would love to spend a few months in Tibet.
