Australian chef Ross Shonhan set out to change the UK’s perceptions of Japanese food with the opening of ramen restaurant Bone Daddies in London’s Soho in 2012. He now operates seven Japanese restaurants in London with an eighth Bone Daddies set to open at Nova Victoria this year. As his Flesh & Buns restaurant re-opens following a two-week refurbishment, he talks to Hospitality & Catering News about plans for the business, being part of the UK’s izakaya introduction and why an interest in Japanese food is all you need to work in his restaurants.
Why are you refurbishing Flesh & Buns and what are your plans for it?
We opened Flesh & Buns just nine months after opening Bone Daddies and it was a massive restaurant for me to take on so soon into setting up the business. Quite honestly I think I was shit-scared of digging myself a financial hole after paying a premium for the site and committing to a significant rent, so we kept the décor very simple. In 2012, it was post-recession, which in restaurants meant you could smash the plaster off the walls, slap a bit of paint around, put some fancy lightbulbs in and if your service and food was good enough, you’d attract a following.
The first six months were tough. I think we were the first dedicated bao bun restaurant in Europe, so we were educating people about this weird bread. Of course, since then, the likes of Bao have opened and Wagamama and YO! Sushi have put bao buns on their menus, but it took some time to educate London about them.
Four years on and the business has grown steadily and significantly, but I’ve always felt there was a bit of a glass ceiling on where we could go with the menu. This is partly based on the fact that the décor is really simple. The food and the service and the drink – when we get it right – has always been let down by the décor, so we thought let’s bite the bullet and invest heavily in the guest areas, so we’ve changed the dining room and bar to make it a bit more comfortable and give it a look that lives up to the standard of food and drink that we’re serving.
There is only one Flesh & Buns in the group, will that ever change?
When I opened the original Peter Street noodle bar I did everything myself and then when I opened Flesh and Buns I was still doing everything myself – I was also the interior designer, project manager and chef. It took so much out of me physically and mentally I always said I’d never do another one, but as the business has grown in size and revenue and I have gained an amazing support team, I’ve said let’s contemplate keeping our eyes out for a site for another Flesh & Buns.
Now the site is established and people know what these weird buns are, I think we could open more of them in London. We could also go anywhere in Europe, or even across America with it. I think the concept has a lot of potential and that’s partly the driver of the refurbishment, it’s kind of, let’s make this thing look and feel more like it should and then it becomes a brand in it’s own right.
So far you’ve focused on London, will you ever open restaurants in other UK cities, or abroad?
I escape London as often as I can. However, I don’t know of any other city in the UK that I could confidently say our restaurants would work in. Because I’ve not grown up here and don’t have a big understanding of the market outside it, I’m a bit nervous to try it. I’d arguably say I’ve got more confidence in taking it to somewhere like Amsterdam than to Manchester. It’s not that I know it any better, it’s just it opens us up to a bigger, more international audience.
In answer to the question, I’m not sure and that’s the challenge. I don’t want staff to have to leave London and I don’t think we’ve maxed-out London yet either. There is still more we can do to build our brand here.
You opened Bone Daddies with the vision to change perceptions of Japanese food in the UK, do you think you’ve achieved that?
I would like to think so. I’m not the kind of person who likes to sit back and pat myself on the back, but plenty of people have gone on to open izakayas in the last few years. After we opened Flesh & Buns others opened rock ‘n’ roll izakayas and now it seems like every man and his dog are trying to open Japanese restaurants.
Japanese food in general remains top of what’s cool and I think we were at the forefront of breaking the boundaries on what the rules were around Japanese food, which is good, because ultimately even in Japan, unless you’re cooking kaiseki-ryori (the traditional royal cuisine of Japan) there aren’t any rules. The Japanese food scene is evolving like any other great country in the world and chefs are experimenting there too, we are just bringing our version to London.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
I try and keep an eye on what’s happening in major food cities around the world, whether it be New York, Hong Kong or Tokyo. I think you have to look globally more than ever now. Perhaps it’s down to social media, but things happen quicker than before. I enjoy doing it. I’m quite competitive and I benchmark ourselves against our competitors. I’m driven by competitiveness, so it’s important to see what restaurateurs around the world and in the UK are doing.
You were personally trained by Nobu Matsuhisa at Nobu, how important is training staff in your business?
Nobu is a legend and he’s an incredible mentor and hospitality spirit. The training he gave was quite old-fashioned – the kick the shit out of you style – so it was about me proving that I was worthy. I don’t regret it, because it did get me to where I am today.
It’s safe to say I don’t adopt that same mentality with my team, but I do try and be an inspirational mentor to them. It’s hard because my heart’s still in the kitchen, but so much of my day is about running a business that I don’t get the time with them that I’d like. However, we have training plans for people when they come in. The one thing I emphasise to anyone and everyone is you don’t need to have any experience in restaurants, let alone Japanese ones, because we will teach that.
A lot of chefs in the UK see ethnic kitchens as no-go areas because they aren’t Chinese, Indian, Japanese or whatever, so we try hard to get the word out that you don’t have to know anything about the Japanese kitchen, we’ll teach you. If you enjoy the food and what we’re doing then come and be part of it.
What concerns you about the future of the restaurant industry?
The lack of people coming into the industry. This whole EU debacle has made it harder than ever to recruit. We’ve already noticed a significantly lower number of applicants from Europe than we historically had and that’s due to a combination of them feeling uncertain of their future here and the weakening of the pound. Any money they might have previously sent home is worth less now.
The level of unemployment in this country isn’t enough to cover vacancies, so there’s a need for foreign labour, particularly in hospitality. People in this country enjoy eating in restaurants, but don’t seem to want to work in them. It makes me sad, because I started washing dishes when I was 15 years old and then went back into kitchens to get out of university. Through hard work and a bit of luck I’ve ended up in the position I’m in. That’s what I love about this industry, it’s not about certificates and bullshit, it’s about hard work and honesty. You can have a great career and earn a very good living, it’s just convincing others that you can.
The continuing weakening of the pound is also an issue for us. To represent flavours of Japan we need ingredients from Japan, like miso paste. We can’t get these things locally, so immediately 20% is added onto our importers cost and that’s a cost we have to swallow.
What’s the plan for the next five years?
We’ll look to maintain organic growth with our noodle bars and I’d like to open at least one more Flesh & Buns. I’ve got ideas of doing bigger and fancier restaurants as well so at some point we’re going to need a partner to help us on the journey with the financial resources to help move us on. I think we’re at that point now. We have a solid foundation and a full team, so we’re just poised for sustained, intelligent growth.
Emma Eversham
Hospitality & Catering News, Interviews Editor