International Korean chef Akira Back makes his London debut at the new Mandarin Oriental hotel in Hanover Square, Mayfair, next Wednesday, 3 June – more than two years after it it was announced.

He will operate two restaurants – Akira Back (pictured), reinterpreting Korean and Japanese dishes, and Dosa, a 14-seat chef’s table offering contemporary Korean dishes prepared using French techniques – plus two bars, ABar Lounge and ABar Rooftop.

The chef made his name at the Yellowtail Japanese Restaurant & Lounge in Las Vegas, where his signature dish is tuna pizza (which will feature on his London menu), and also runs the acclaimed modern Korean restaurant Dosa in Seoul.

Born in Seoul, where he is known as Back Seung-Wook, he moved to Japan as a boy hoping to become a baseball star, picking up the Japanese nickname Akira along the way. He then moved with his family to Aspen, Colorado, spending seven years as a pro snowboarder before he trained as a chef.