Mikael Jonsson leaves Antidote to let the menu ‘run free’
Jonsson has handed full control of the menu over to head chef Michael Hazelwood after agreeing that the kitchen was now ‘strong enough to stand’ without his support.
New Zealand-born Hazlewood – previously of Attica and ToastED - joined Antidote in summer 2015 and has been working under the guidance of Jonsson until now.
The Swede was originally brought in to instil ‘a bit of the Hedone ethos’ to the Soho restaurant’s menu in 2014.
“Having built up a new kitchen team, including the appointment of Hazle, and having given direction to the new food offering, Antidote now has the right man in charge of the kitchen,” said Jonsson.
“I wish them all the very best and I am happy to continue to supply them with bread. It has been interesting to shepherd Antidote over these past two years but now it’s time to let Hazle run free.”
Hazlewood was full of praise for Jonsson but admitted he was excited to put his own stamp on the menu.
He said: “My style is to cook with the best produce around and produce a consistently evolving menu. I have developed quite a distinctive style of cooking since I’ve been at Antidote and it feels good to be going it alone in the kitchen now.
“Mikael’s a fantastic Chef but we produce very different food and I am excited about the future at Antidote.”
Antidote was opened in 2011 by Guillaume Siard and Thierry Bouteloup - the duo behind the restaurant’s predecessor La Trouvaille.
The pair said: “The relationship with Mikael has been fantastic and we have enjoyed working with him greatly. We feel now that Hazle’s food is absolutely spot on and he’s got there on his own. We want to give him the opportunity to really truly run the kitchens here entirely on his own.”
Hazlewood told BigHospitality last year that while Antidote generally had no issue attracting staff it had been hit hard by the ongoing chef shortage in London with a lack of applicants for highly-skilled kitchen roles.
