Atique Choudhury was just 17 when he and his mum joined forces to launch a restaurant in Stoke Newington.
The year was 1980 and they had just £5,000 to make it happen. As London’s first vegetarian restaurant serving purely Indian food, Spice’s Pure Indian Vegetarian Restaurant was ahead of its time. It grew rapidly; eventually taking up three shop units on Church Street (where Foxton’s is now).
He said: “Stoke Newington was very different then. Every third shop was empty and many of the houses were squatted.
“We did most of the work ourselves. I was running a licensed premises when I was barely old enough to be served alcohol.”
But Atique, a self-confessed foodie who trained as a chef with Diwana Bhel Poori House on Drummond Street, developed a taste for spicy Asian food. Some of the chefs in the Indian restaurant were Thai and they’d been taking him to Thai restaurants and teaching him about the cuisine.
In 1992 Atique and his Thai wife Sirirat took on the premises next door on Church Street and opened Yum Yum Thai Restaurant. It became so popular that they incorporated the remaining spaces.
In 2006 Yum Yum relocated to its current larger premises on the High Street. Built in 1712 for a wealthy Quaker and businessman, the building had latterly been occupied by Hackney Council. The restaurant can seat 300 people and has a spacious garden and cocktail lounge.
He added: “There was a massive gap on the High Street then; people assumed Church Street was the place to be and, when we said we were moving, they couldn’t understand it. But I had belief that if you have a beautiful place and it’s within reach people would make the extra effort to come. I’m a risk-taker; I believed in the project and it paid off.”
Atique’s wife Sirirat is an accomplished chef and businesswoman. They’ve been married for 32 years and have a son Rishi, 26 (a budding R&B artist).
Atqiue added: “She’s really in charge of creating perfect Thai dishes. She used to work for me – now I work for her!
“Food isn’t just something you consume, it is a spirit, a feeling, a culture and it’s that spiritual element we try to bring.”
Yum Yum has won plenty of awards (including one from the Thai Government’s Department for Trade and Export) and some of their customers have been coming since day one. Their Head Chef Team Wantavee has been with the restaurant for 32 years.
Atique’s young life wasn’t always plain sailing. Aged three, his parents moved him and his two siblings to East Pakistan to help them learn about their heritage and culture. His family originally come from East Pakistan. But three years later war broke out; the situation was perilous and the Choudhury’s escaped to safety on the last flight back to the UK.
Once home, they set up an Eastern European deli in Hackney Road selling predominantly Polish food. His entrepreneurial mum had seen a gap in the market and it did well. Atique, who went to sixth form at Highbury Grove, helped out in the shop at the weekends and school holidays.
His father Dabirul Islam Choudhury OBE is 104-years-old and has devoted his life to helping others; he’s raised more than £5million for more than 40 charities across 60 countries and is showing no sign of slowing down.
Atique said: “My family has a saying: “Idle minds, devil’s workshop” – we always keep ourselves occupied.
“We are great believers in women’s empowerment – if you educate a girl, that girl will educate her family.”
The family’s charitable foundation provides food, education and a home for 630 girls in poverty aged six to 16 in Bangladesh, Yum Yum sponsors local racing driver Jack James and are proud supporters of Hackney Foodbank (donating £1 from every order of Lamb Mussaman Curry or Vegetable Pad Thai ordered in house or for collection). They’re also part of a project supporting asylum seekers and refugees into work.
Asked about his favourite local restaurants, he hails Cirrik Numara Bos (especially for their Lamb Beyti), La Duchesse (for their homemade cheesecake) and La Rosetta for their pizzas.
When he’s not in the restaurant, Atique’s property portfolio keeps him busy. He’s been investing since the age of 18 and has a passion for bringing listed buildings back to life.
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