#122 | Emma Reynolds – Ramen is always a good idea

In 2002 Emma Reynolds met Ken Yamada and became great friends over their shared love of travelling and food, more specifically Japanese food and in particular ramen.

Over the years, they realised it was very difficult to find decent ramen in London, so they began on a mission to sort that out themselves…

They started out in 2011 with a Saturday night pop-up in the city. 30 people came through the doors at the very first pop-up, but just ten weeks later they had 120, with tickets selling out within minutes.

Friday nights were spent prepping – bubbling broth for hours (with condensation running down the windows of Emma’s flat) making chashu and gyoza fillings, whilst drinking a couple of beers and talking about opening their first ramen restaurant.

Then they’d be up at 6am on the Saturday to move all the ingredients to the pop-up restaurant, handmake 400 gyozas and get ready for the first sitting, with their adrenaline pumping.

Ken and Emma made a different ramen every week, each from a different region of Japan. People loved it, and they knew they were onto something, which gave them the confidence to go and find a location for our first restaurant – and in 2012 Tonkotsu Soho was born.

Now, in 2023, Tonkotsu has since grown to 17 restaurants – 15 in London, with Brighton and Birmingham also – and 280 staff over the last 11 years.

And last month Emma took some time out from her busy schedule to deliver the keynote at our flagship Brewers Congress event. Here she reiterated the importance of people in your business, the tough decisions you often have to make and why Ramen is always a good idea.