Andreas Antona (born in September 1957) is a

Greek-Cypriot Greek Cypriots (, ) are the ethnic Greeks, Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest Ethnolinguistic group, ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2023 census, 719,252 respondents recorded their ethnicity as Greek, forming al ...

, British

chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

and

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspe ...

. Now the Chef-Patron, and owner, of ''Simpsons'', one of Birmingham's five

Michelin star The ''Michelin Guides'' ( ; ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The ''Guide'' awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few restaurants in certain geographic ...

red restaurants, and ''The Cross'' in

Kenilworth Kenilworth ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Warwick (district), Warwick District of Warwickshire, England, southwest of Coventry and north of both Warwick and Leamington Spa. Situated at the centre of t ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

. Antona was a mentor to several other successful Birmingham chefs early in their careers, including Glynn Purnell, Luke Tipping and Andy Waters, and has been described in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' as "the godfather of modern Birmingham food". Antona was born in

Cuckfield Cuckfield ( ) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Mid Sussex District, Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, on the southern slopes of the Weald. It lies south of London, north of Brighton, and east northea ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

to a

family, and was brought up in

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...

, London. He trained initially at Ealing Technical College, after which he spent six years working in hotels in Germany and Switzerland – before working under Anton Mosimann at The Dorchester and at the Ritz Hotel. From 1987 he spent three years as Head Chef at Birmingham's Plough and Harrow Hotel, at a time when its restaurant was among the finest in the Midlands. Antona originally opened ''Simpsons'' in

in September 1993, the restaurant's name being taken from that of the chemists shop owned by his father-in-law that used to occupy the property. Simpsons was awarded a Michelin Star in 1999 and moved to a grade II-listed Georgian villa in

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is a suburb of Birmingham, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies immediately south-west of Birmingham city centre, and was historically in Warwickshire. The Ward (electoral subdivision), wards of Edgbaston and Nort ...

, Birmingham in 2004, by which time it had built a European-wide reputation. Since then, Antona has opened a second restaurant in

, ''The Cross,'' which was awarded a Michelin Star in 2014 just shortly after opening. Andreas is now part of the team behind Pure Bar & Kitchen in Birmingham.

References

External links

Simpsons Restaurant
– Official website *The Cross – http://www.thecrosskenilworth.co.uk/ – Official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Antona, Andreas 1957 births Living people English chefs People from Birmingham, West Midlands Head chefs of Michelin-starred restaurants