‘You don’t need to be a big restaurant’: Renowned Leeds chef on expanding her empire with Fern Modern Sushi 2

Renowned Leeds-based sushi chef Lattawan “Chef Fern” Buchanan is just days away from officially opening her third restaurant in the city on Park Row.

The Thailand-born chef has built a social media following of just shy of 58,000 people and headed the kitchen at Sakku before launching her first restaurant, Fern Modern Sushi, in the Central Arcade in 2024.

Her empire has quickly expanded. Last year, she opened her Japanese grill house, Tori Nori, on Vicar Lane. This week, her third venture, Fern Modern Sushi 2, soft-launched on Park Row.

The new restaurant is a significant step up in size from her original venue, which seats 28 guests.

"The new restaurant has more space for customers and a new atmosphere,” Fern told the Yorkshire Evening Post.

"Here, everything is the same, the same menu, the same prices, but you have a bigger restaurant. You can come with a big group - you can book for 20 or 30 people. You're really welcome here."

The restaurant officially opens on November 19, and news of a bigger restaurant was well received long before the launch.

"When we told customers we were going to open number two, with a bigger place where they wouldn't have to wait in a queue, everyone was really happy. All the feedback has been really good,” she said.

"We've been soft-opening for four days now and we've had a lot of customers. There are a lot of offices around here, so people are really happy that we have opened here and they don't have to wait in the queue at the first restaurant."

Like others in the hospitality industry, Chef Fern is feeling the squeeze, with rising costs and slimmer pockets. She credits Leeds’ unwavering support for independent businesses with allowing her to open a new restaurant at this time of the year.

“In Leeds, people always support independent businesses. This is what I see,” she said. “You don't need to be a big restaurant, but you have to be a good restaurant. If you're independent and you do good food, people love you, they support you and they come back.”

She added: "I'm so lucky. If you do good food and have lovely, nice people working here who smile at customers, everyone will support you.

"Even now, in September, October and November, sales are down, but we're still OK. We're still OK.

"I hope that by the end of this year and next year, everything will be better and everyone will be able to spend more."

Food at Fern Modern Sushi 2 is prepared in an open kitchen surrounded by a stylish sushi bar, reminiscent of those found in Japan.

For those who haven’t visited the Central Arcade restaurant, Chef Fern has clear favourites to try.

"For sushi, I still love the cheesy torched salmon maki. It's my favourite - it's the sushi we created with cheese,” she said.

"For the hot kitchen, I like the tonkatsu ramen. The soup is very nice, light and clean. You could have this ramen today, tomorrow and the next day. You could have it every day."

Fern Modern Sushi 2 opens on Park Row on November 19.