ANDA - closed?

[vytoh]

Hi folks,

I work on Baker St and wandered by Anda late last week....and it looked closed! The curtains were drawn, the menu box was empty and I couldn't find a sign telling potential patrons why it was closed. Walked past again last night and same story.

Not sure how long it has been like this for, but does anyone know what has happened to Anda? I wasn't a fan and it never seemed to be doing particularly well when i walked past (combination of quality for price, service, decor and prob mostly location i suspect) but has it closed its doors? or will it be reborn as something better? Has Alan Yau closed it to concentrate on Yauatcha instead?

questions questions...just curious!

[MobyP]

I haven't heard anything - but just for the record, how many Yau places are there now?

[origamicrane]

He sold wagamama

leaving hakkasan, busaba eathai and yauatcha.

Think Anda was a bad idea never actually read a glowing report of it.

Think he will probably stick to oriental food from now on its what he does best.

I'm waiting for the high end korean, vietnamese and sushi bar from him.

[patrick]

According to Caterer, Anda closed on 19th June with the loss of 12 chefs jobs. Apparently, the restaurant failed to bring in enough customers.

[Suzi Edwards]

i went once and never would have gone back. it was in an odd location, they can't have got much passing trade.

[camp_dick]

It beats me how Alan Yau maintains his reputation, having sustained such a comprehensive failure at Anda. He inherited the premises from his business partner, Sami Wasif, who had opened possibly the most pretentious Italian restaurant of modern times, which received the worst reviews in memory, and promptly closed. Yau conceived a kind of wagga pizzeria (the business plan was tagged '21st Century Trattoria') with the refectory tables and benches: 45 mins; 15 quid per head. However, this wasn't to be because of (a) inevitable comparisons with Eco, Wasif's passe pizzeria dahn sarf, and (b) the success of Strada raised the bar too high.

Plus, there was no accounting for factor X: Mr Yau's hifalutin' ideas.

Yau hired a proper chef, Francesco Mazzei, working with a full brigade (eight in the kitchen at service), turning out a full menu to customers who could expect to spend an hour and a half and at least £35 per head for dinner. But - and this is the hallmark of Yau's genius - he kept the canteen service style and wouldn't initially accept bookings. In fact, he was expecting passers-by to queue for the privilege of spending £50 each on dinner and to sit for hours with nothing to support their backs!

Of course, it was never going to work and Fay Maschler took Yau aside and told him so. She said she wouldn't review Anda, because to do so would choke the business at birth.

Before Anda had properly opened, Yau knew that he was going to have to ditch the limed oak refectory tables and uncomfortable benches. For that reason, there was no official launch event and not even a press release could be sent out. Yau was relying on word of mouth, but didn't appreciate how difficult the Baker Street location actually is. In desperation, his people persuaded Yau to try a bit of direct marketing. They schmoozed Marks & Sparks execs from Head Office across the road, but M&S weren't doing too well, either. They lunched the concierges from local hotels, who all said they'd be happy to recommend the restaurant as soon as it acquired some proper chairs!

Of course, a restuarateur of Alan Yau's calibre can't be expected to buy his furniture ready made. The new chairs had to be commissioned from a prestigious designer. There were long lunches and intense consultations. A prototype chair was produced at great expense. This all took more than six months, while the restaurant was barely trading... to give an idea of how much money went down the drain, when it was revealed that the new chairs would cost about thirty grand, someone remarked that's how much the restaurant was losing every week!

This cash hemorrhage had severe repercussions in other areas of the business. (Each of the restaurants operates independently, but Hakkasan is the cash cow and core company.) The Bird Street location of Busaba is still hoarded at time of writing (and there's a rumour that they'll lose the Floral St location), while the new Chowbar concept @ Kingly Court is already more than a year behind schedule and is now unlikely to open before the end of 2005 (unless the landlord pulls the plug).

Through it all, Alan Yau acted like he was serenely oblivious, constantly travelling to do business with his sinister associates in Moscow and HK. Only a couple of weeks before the accountants finally pulled the plug on Anda, Yau accompanied Francesco to the trade fair in Bologna to scope out new ovens!

So that's the sad story of Anda. It's nothing to do with a Chinese bloke not being able to operate an Italian restaurant: the food was very good and not expensive for what it was. It's just that it was a misconceived and badly executed concept, with a service style that didn't match the aspirations of the cuisine, in the wrong location and with a crap name. At least this failure doesn't appear to have dented Alan Yau's high opinion of himself!

[MobyP]

Welcome to eGullet, CD, and thanks for the post. You seem uncommonly well informed.

[origamicrane]

hmm... would the lose of Anda really effect his food empire that badly?

He must have made a mint when he sold wagamama?

Busaba on wardour street seems to be packing them in, even on a monday night.

and yauatcha and hakkasan seem to be doing pretty brisk trade.

no comment on the man himself as don't know anything about him

but the restuarants have all been pretty good in my opinion.

[UkFoodie]

hmm... would the lose of Anda really effect his food empire that badly?

He must have made a mint when he sold wagamama?

Busaba on wardour street seems to be packing them in, even on a monday night.

and yauatcha and hakkasan seem to be doing pretty brisk trade.

no comment on the man himself as don't know anything about him

but the restuarants have all been pretty good in my opinion.

←

Did he also have a hand in Opium.... Across from Busaba?

Very similar feel in concept... but obviously different cuisine.

[Carlovski]

I wouldn't say he deserves to lose his reputation for one failure after the phenomonal success of his other ventures.

Gordon Ramsay had to shut down Amarylis but whatever people may think of his more recent television ventures, or him personally no one doubts his credentials as a restaurateur.

Didn't someone try a similar french concept in Paris (Joel Robuchon? Can't really remember) - 'Haute' cuisine, but canteen style communal dining and no reservations.

[camp_dick]

Well, I am obviously well informed about the internal workings of the Hakkasan group and - as may also be obvious - I have a grievance. And I know where the bodies are buried;-(

FYI, origamicrane, Alan Yau received £3.5m when he sold his interest in wagamama, in 1997/8. Back then, there were only two wagamamas. Now there are 42. Last year, the directors decided not to float waga publicly, but financed future expansion by borrowing £60m.

I agree that AY's restaurants are pretty good from the customers' POV. My point is that the owner's design fetish, his refusal to accept advice, and his constant long-haul travelling make him a nightmare to work for. Carlovski referred to the 'phenomonal success' of his other ventures, but that's a matter of perspective.

I have plenty to say about both Busaba and Yauatcha, but perhaps I'll save these observations for separate threads...

Edited February 24, 2005 by camp_dick (log)

[Basildog]

£30k on Chairs !!!

Bloody Hell

[origamicrane]

£3.5m hmmm... for that price he could have bought 115 set of chairs for Anda.