Busaba Eathai, the Thai restaurant chain founded by Alan Yau, has announced plans to open four more sites, including its first outside London, this year.
The restaurant group, bought from Yau for £21.5m in 2008, will open its first new site on Panton Street in London's West End on 28 March and will be followed by the launch of a double-storey restaurant between Hoxton Square and Old Street in June.
A third site will open in West London later this year before the restaurant chain opens its first site outside London in an, as yet, undisclosed location.
To coincide with the launch of the first two London sites, Busaba will run two arts-based projects.
It will show screenings of short films produced by students from Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design at the Panton Street restaurant and will exhibit works by photographer Jason Lowe, Fashion house; Child of the Jago, Illustration agency; HigginsonHurst, VNA Magazine, and Curated Project; Big Antidote at the Hoxton restaurant.
Yau opened the first Busaba Eathai, his interpretation of the Thai canteen, on London's Wardour Street in 1999. It was followed by restaurants on London's Store Street and Bird Street before being bought out by management company Phoenix Equity in 2008, headed up by Yau’s wife Jale Erentok.
Later that same year Stephen Gee was appointed chairman of Busaba Eathai Limited to assist in a roll out plan.