Father's Day with Graham and Masa
We sat down with General Manager Graham Ryan to discuss Yamamori’s family-owned legacy, childhood and being a new father. Check out our dining specials, gift cards, and table bookings over at our Father’s Day Page
Graham Ryan and his new son Masa at Yamamori North
“I remember the day Dad got it.” The youngest of four, Graham Ryan was 6 years old, and he usually spent Thursdays at his Grandma’s house with his siblings. His father Derek, owner of Yamamori, usually got to the house around 7pm to pick them up; today he was late. “It was August, really bright outside,” remembers Graham, the general manager of Yamamori. “Dad walked in and he had these keys. He says, ‘You wanna come see something?’” And we went down to South Great George’s Street, to what would become Yamamori Noodles, and he opened up the doors. It was 1995.
Yamamori has always been a family-run and family-centered business, and the history of Yamamori is inextricably the history of the Ryan family, too. “I remember playing a lot,” says Graham of his childhood in the first restaurant. “There were four of us - we were mischievous, always trying to get into all the nooks and crannies we weren’t allowed in. But everyone was really happy to see us - it had a real family vibe.”
Graham moved to Japan when he was 21, staying for five years while working with Jameson. But various circumstances pulled him back home to Dublin and he has been managing the Yamamori venues for a few years now - and has started his own family.
Enter Masa - the newest Ryan, born on February 19 to Graham and his partner.
See what’s on for Father’s Day at Yamamori
“It was August, really bright outside ... Dad walked in and he had these keys. He says, ‘You wanna come see something?’”
Graham with his father Derek Ryan
Masa has started even earlier in the world of Yamamori. Today, Masa joins his parents for a regular meal in Yamamori North. Not quite on the solid food yet, when he’s a bit older, he’ll start on vegetable maki rolls - cucumber and avocado - and other staples of traditional Japanese cuisine: rice, miso, and tofu.
At only 4 months old, Masa is already a regular. “He feels so comfortable here,” says Masa’s mum. “He knows it’s an extension of his home.”
