25th May 2019
Wagamama is to introduce gender-neutral toilets in 50 of its UK restaurants in time for the inaugural London Transgender Pride on 14th September.
In future, all new Wagamama restaurants will incorporate gender-neutral toilets as a standard design feature. The first site to be converted will be its test kitchen, Noodle Lab, in Soho. Wagamama will also host a series of “mentor match-ups” ahead of London Pride in July.
Chief marketing officer Ross Farquhar said: “As the world moves on and in the spirit of good change – or ‘kaizen’ – we have to keep updating what that means for our colleagues and guests. Stonewall estimates there are about 600,000 people in the UK who identify as transgender or non-binary and those people should feel as at home in Wagamama as the rest of the LGBTQ+ community has for the past two-and-a-half decades.”
Chinese chain Happy Lamb Hot Pot to make UK debut, in Bloomsbury: Chinese chain Happy Lamb Hot Pot is set to make its UK debut this summer, in Bloomsbury, London. Originating in Mongolia, Happy Lamb Hot Pot has sites across the US and Canada and has now set its sights on the London restaurant scene. The company will open a restaurant in The Office Group building in Bloomsbury Way, Hot Dinners reports. The concept offers meat, fish and vegetables to dunk in your pot, with cuts of meat such as pork belly, lamb shoulder and offal. Combination platters on offer in the US include a seafood version (white fish, squid, scallops and whole shrimp) and a vegetarian version featuring spinach, lettuce, daikon wedges and mini corn on the cob. There are four soup bases – “milky” bone marrow broth; spicy bone marrow broth; a half-and-half pot featuring a combination of those; and a pickled cabbage broth.
