Entrepreneur envisions mutton for the masses

Idea merges modern fast-food chain and a traditional Uygur delicacy

Almas Pulat's restaurant in Urumqi offers a rare combination: it is a modern, stylized fast-food outlet that features a traditional Uygur delicacy, a mutton pilaf known as zhuafan.

Within a year of opening the restaurant, called Wemily, Almas added a second eatery. And that's just the beginning. The 29-year-old, US-educated entrepreneur intends to develop the brand into a modernized fast-food chain, a McDonald's of traditional Uygur delicacy.