UK: LONDON: NEW ROBOT JAPANESE SUSHI BAR "YO SUSHI" OPENS IN SOHO

(23 Jan 1997) English/Nat Take Japan's taste for raw fish, add a little of their enthusiasm for modern technology and create London's hippest restaurant - "Yo! Sushi". In the heart of the British capital's Soho district, the latest eating experience involves picking your favourite dish from a moving conveyor belt. London's Soho is wall to wall restaurants so it takes quite a special eaterie to provoke the slightest bit of interest at its launch. But originality isn't lacking here - even if more conventional methods of dining out are. When you sit down at "Yo! Sushi", the traditional menu and smiling waiters have been replaced by a conveyor belt of raw fish dishes. This is as much a feast for the eyes as the stomach - where temptation is meant to get the better of you, as you tuck into your favourite sushi dish. The concept is nothing new, it's existed in Japan since the late 1960s and there are now more then two thousand of them there. And it's not even a first for London, but it is the most ambitious attempt yet to turn sushi into a food with mass mainstream appeal in the UK. SOUNDBITE: (English) "In Japan there are two and a half thousand of these and I'm constantly amazed that nobody has done it on a big scale before. This is supposedly, we're told by the manufacturers of the robot machines, the largest one in the world. We're taking a concept that is well developed in Japan - conveyor belts are used in factories and airports all the time - and using something that is proven and adding to it and making it into a style restaurant." SUPERCAPTION: Simon Woodroffe, Managing Director, "Yo! Sushi" And the passion in Japan for the latest craze in new technology hasn't been forgotten either. The Sushi robot dispenses the perfect portion of rice before the dish begins its journey around the restaurant. And if you are thirsty then call over - not the waiter - but the drinks trolley. There are three of these continually circling the restaurant laden with beer, wine, sake and tea. While each place-setting has its own tap dispensing fizzy mineral water at just over one U-S dollar a glass. SOUNDBITE: (English) "I have a great deal of respect for Japan and we've drawn a lot.....I say this is not a Japanese restaurant, it's an international restaurant serving Japanese food. So the answer to your question is I think they will. I think they're fascinated - the Japanese - that somebody whose not Japanese should pick up on their food and their systems and I think they're rather proud of it actually." SUPER CAPTION: Simon Woodroffe, Managing Director, "Yo! Sushi" But while the restaurant may be to the taste of the Japanese, it remains to be seen whether the food and the cold, futuristic "Blade Runner" inspired decor are to the liking of Londoners. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...