Alan Yau
Alan Yau (Chinese: 丘德威) OBE (born 11 November 1962) is a Hong Kong-born British restaurateur who founded the Wagamama chain in the United Kingdom. Of Hakka ancestry, he was born in Sha Tau Kok, Hong Kong and moved to King's Lynn, Norfolk in 1975 with his family.
Alan Yau OBE | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 11 November 1962 Sha Tau Kok, British Hong Kong | ||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | British | ||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, restaurateur | ||||||||||||||||||
| Years active | 1992–present | ||||||||||||||||||
| Known for | Wagamama, Hakkasan, Busaba Eathai, Yauatcha, Princi, Park Chinois, Babaji, Softchow | ||||||||||||||||||
| Title | CEO of Softchow | ||||||||||||||||||
| Awards | Michelin Star (Hakkasan, 2002) Michelin Star (Yauatcha, 2005) OBE (2006) | ||||||||||||||||||
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Alan Yau started his career in 1992 founding Wagamama and was appointed an OBE in the 2006 New Year Honour's List for services to the restaurant industry. Following that, Alan founded numerous ventures in gastronomy such as Hakkasan (awarded a Michelin Star in 2003), Yauatcha (awarded Michelin star in 2005) and Park Chinois. In 2016 Alan pivoted into the software world and founded Softchow, a taste aggregation platform.
In April 2019, The Asian Awards honoured Alan for his culinary work with the "Outstanding Achievement in the Arts" award.