WITH all eyes on the Corn Exchange’s summer opening as a “food mecca” with more chains on board than a convict hulk the unloved (by foodies) Printworks has put a shot across its bows.
The first branch of Alan Yau’s ‘authentic’ Thai food chain Busaba Eathai will take up residence in Cafe Rouge 7,000 sq ft site at the entrance to the popular bar/entertainment complex some time in the autumn.
Yau is the serial restaurateur who created Wagamama back in 1992 when the thought of eating large bowls of noodles in a communal canteen environment offered a seismic shift in UK communal dining.
Busaba’s first UK venture outside London is not going to make the earth move in the same way but it has been hugely successful across 12 Capital locations with punters partial to its green papapya salads and char-grilled duck in venues featuring dark-wood benches and huge, square, shared tables under soft lighting.
Yau sold Wagamama over a decade ago, then opened Hakkasan, Britain's first Michelin-starred Cantonese restaurant which he also sold in 2008. Corporate buyers took Busaba Eathai off his hands for a further huge sum, but he remains a director and shareholder.
