Alan Yau is a Hong Kong restaurateur in the Uk who started the Wagamama franchise in the UK.
In 1992, Alan Yau launched his career by launching Wagamama. He was awarded the OBE in the 2006 New Year Honours List for his contributions to the restaurant sector.
Thereafter, Alan launched several food-related businesses, including Park Chinois, Yauatcha, and Hakkasan, which received Michelin stars in 2003, 2005, and 2003, respectively. Alan made a career change and started the taste aggregating platform Softchow in 2016.
The Asian Awards presented Alan with the “Outstanding Achievement in the Arts” award in April 2019 in recognition of his culinary expertise. The 56-year-old Londoner with Hong Kong ancestry has developed businesses that have grown into empires throughout his nearly 30 years in the food industry.
Quick Facts About Alan Yau
| Name | Alan Yau |
| Age | 59 |
| Birthdate | 11 November 1962 |
| Birthplace | Sha Tau Kok, British Hong Kong |
| Nationality | British |
| Known for | Wagamama, Hakkasan, Busaba Eathai, Yauatcha, Princi, Park Chinois, Babaji, Softchow |
| Title | CEO of Softchow |
| Awards | OBE (2006), Michelin Star 2002 (Hakkasan), Michelin Star 2005 (Yauatcha) |
Alan Yau’s Net Worth In 2022
Alan Yau is a Hong Kong restaurateur who has a net worth of $15 million.
He has accumulated such a fortune as he founded multiple restaurants and has been a renowned entrepreneur in the culinary world. In the 2006 New Year’s Honours List, Alan Yau received the Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his contributions to the restaurant sector.
In addition, he is the brains behind the renowned Chinese eateries Yauatcha and Hakkasan in London, each of which has received a Michelin Star. Hakkasan was ranked 18th in Restaurant’s sixth annual global survey of the 50 Best Restaurants, released in April 2008.
He made his American debut in April 2009 when the Hakkasan restaurant at the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach, Florida, opened. The entrepreneur attempted to make his American debut in 2006 at Park Chinois at the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York but was unsuccessful owing to outside constraints.
In 2011, his well-known Chinese businesses, Hakkasan and Yauatcha, made their debut in Mumbai, India.
As creative director for the new Jing Yaa Tang Peking duck restaurant at The Opposite House in Beijing, Yau worked with Swire Hotels in August 2013. Yau’s first endeavor in mainland China is lieutenant. In 2014, Alan established Song Qi, a fine-dining Chinese restaurant in Monaco, in partnership with the Monaco Restaurant Group of Giraudi.
Busaba Eathai, a Thai restaurant chain with 11 locations in London, also includes Alan Yau on its board of directors.
In 1992, Yau launched Wagamama, and ten years later, he sold the network of 26 restaurants for £60 million. Hakkasan, the first Michelin-starred Cantonese restaurant in Britain, was his creation in 2001. In 2008, he sold it along with Yauatcha to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority for £30.5 million.
A restaurateur from Hong Kong made US$60 million by selling his two upscale Chinese eateries in the center of London. The Michelin-starred eateries Hakkasan and Yauatcha were sold by Alan Yau to Tasameem, a real estate division of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, according to a story in The Times.
Mr. Yau began his career in the food industry by operating a series of inexpensive Japanese eateries. In 2001, he shifted to the high end of the market and was so successful that a futures trade in reservations at Hakkasan emerged.
Alan Yau’s Family Background
Alan Yau was born to his father and mother on 11 November 1962 in Sha Tau Kok, British Hong Kong.
As of 2022, the restauranteur is currently 59 years old. He was a Hakka who got born in Sha Tau Kok, Hong Kong, and migrated to King’s Lynn, Norfolk, with his family when he was 12 years old, not knowing any English.
He was born in 1962 in Hong Kong. In 1965, his tailor’s father immigrated to Britain to work in the restaurant industry. Three years later, Yau’s mother left the country, leaving him and his two siblings in the care of their grandparents.
He moved in with his parents in the Norfolk market town of King’s Lynn when he was 12. His Chinese name Yau Tak Wai was changed to Alan by a teacher at his school, and it stayed. Small and unable to speak English, Yau attracted unwanted attention from his regional classmates. Nevertheless, it is impossible to ignore the impact of his early years.
The Yau family relocated to Wisbech from King’s Lynn and founded a Chinese takeout there. He initially learned how to manage a food company there while working there on the weekends and at night.
After graduating from high school, the entrepreneur briefly left the food industry to study politics and philosophy at the City of London Polytechnic and work in interior design, but he quickly got lured back to what he was most familiar with.
Alan despises the Chinese restaurant industry, yet he kept being drawn in, so he is still in the culinary industry. He established a takeout company in Peterborough in 1988, and since then, Alan has been opening eateries.
The restaurateur has launched other ventures, including Princi London, which he worked on alongside Rocco Princi, a Chinese noodle bar called Cha Cha Moon, and most recently, Babaji Pide Salonu, an Istanbul Pide Salonu.
Cha Cha Moon launched in the middle of 2008 and is known for its noodles. Recent initiatives include Park Chinois dinner and dance and The Duck and Rice English public with a Chinese kitchen.
Alan Yau’s Wife – Who Is He Married To?
Alan Yau has tied marital knots with his wife, Jale Erentok.
Unfortunately, Yau has maintained privacy and has not disclosed any details about his wife in the media. The couple seemed to have dated for several years and later decided to marry each other in a private ceremony.
There have been no rumors of clashes or fights between Alan and Jale on social media. There are also no details about the couple being parents to their children.
The founders of Wagamama, busaba eathai, and hakkasan, Alan, and his Turkish wife, Jale Nuriye Erentok, are now branding out to create a chain of fine-dining Turkish restaurants.
The newest outpost of Alan Yau and Jale Erentok’s Soho empire serves delectable Turkish cuisine near Chinatown. Some of London’s most important restaurants over the past 25 years have been founded by Alan Yau and his Turkish wife Jale, including Wagamama, Busaba Eathai, Hakkasan, and Yauatcha.
The restaurateur does not, however, want to draw attention to himself or his efforts. He seldom ever discusses himself or his work at all. The Turkish wife of Yau, who developed Wagamama, Busaba Eathai, and Hakkasan, is the source of his passion for Turkish food.
The entrepreneur, renowned for creating Asian restaurant brands, launched Yamabahce as his first venture after parting ways with AAYA, the company that managed Duck and Rice and Babaji Pide.
Before opening new restaurants, Yau is notorious for separating himself from the restaurant business.
He left the field in 2009 to train as a Buddhist monk in Thailand and announced that he would leave the field in 2012 when Betty’s Kitchen opened in Hong Kong.
Yau’s feelings about the planet he has ruled are still mixed nearly thirty years later. He frequently declares that he is about to retire and is just one project away from giving up the restaurant business for good.
He speaks fondly about his time at Wagamama and is tantalized and concerned by the unfinished business of fast food. He claims it was an “era of innocence and naivete” without the “weight of expectation.”
Some FAQs
What is Alan Yau net worth?
As of 2022, Alan Yau has not revealed his actual net worth in the media.
What is Alan Yau age?
As of 2022, Alan Yau is currently 59 years old.
Where is Alan Yau from?
Alan Yau is from Sha Tau Kok, British Hong Kong
What is Alan Yau Occupation?
Alan Yau is an entrepreneur and restaurateur
What is Alan Yau Nationality?
Alan Yau is from British