Where It All Began…

In 2018, Quan Wang (Alan )founded Yun in London—not simply to open a restaurant, but to plant a seed of Yunnan on international soil.

When Quan first arrived in London as a student, Quan embraced London’s life of pubs and museums, yet something was missing. No Michelin star, no global street food could fill the void left by one irreplaceable taste: a bowl of Yunnan rice noodles. It wasn’t only flavour—it was memory, comfort, and belonging.

Quan is a second-generation chef, raised in his family’s restaurant since the age of ten. His childhood was steeped in the aroma of wild mushrooms and his grandmother’s stories by the fire. What once felt ordinary revealed its value years later—when he saw wild mushrooms in London sold as rare delicacies.

Cooking Yunnan dishes for his foreign friends, Quan discovered how flavours and stories could open a new world for them. They had never heard of Yunnan, yet were captivated. That raised a question: why does the world celebrate Sichuan and Cantonese cuisines, but not Yunnan?

That question became his mission—to give Yunnan a voice in London, not through grand gestures, but through one humble, steaming bowl of noodles.