April 1992: the two chains open their first UK branches. Since then they’ve changed the restaurant industry and the way we eat out. How did they stay so fresh?
In the mid-1990s, 4a Streatham Street in central London was arguably the hottest address in British food. By 5pm, a queue would form outside this basement noodle bar, Alan Yau’s first Wagamama, and, remembers head chef, Chi San: “As soon as we opened, the kitchen printers wouldn’t stop.”
Opened in 1992, this minimalist canteen, with its communal seating and democratic pricing, chimed with the coming New Labour era. Flashy material wealth was out, “experiences” were in, says Perry Haydn Taylor, the head of branding agency Big Fish: “Hipsters were off eating in interesting places.”
