Andreas Antona (born in September 1957) is a

Greek-Cypriot Greek Cypriots or Cypriot Greeks ( el, Ελληνοκύπριοι, Ellinokýprioi, tr, Kıbrıs Rumları) are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2011 census, 659,115 r ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

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 aspec ...

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

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

's four

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 establishments. The acquisition or loss of a ...

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 in Warwickshire, England, south-west of Coventry, north of Warwick and north-west of London. It lies on Finham Brook, a ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

. Antona was a mentor to several other successful

chefs early in their careers, including

Glynn Purnell Glynn Purnell (born 4 January 1975 in Solihull, England) is an English chef, restaurateur and television personality. Described by the ''Birmingham Post'' as "undoubtably the finest chef to hail from Chelmsley Wood", he is the proprietor and Hea ...

, Luke Tipping and Andy Waters, and has been described in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' 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 northeas ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

to a

family, and was brought up in

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He trained initially at Ealing Technical College, after which he spent six years working in hotels in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

- before working under

Anton Mosimann Anton Mosimann OBE, Deputy Lieutenant, DL (born 23 February 1947) is a Swiss chef and restaurateur who was ''Maitre Chef des Cuisines'' at the Dorchester Hotel for thirteen years, during which time its restaurant achieved a rating of two stars ...

The Dorchester The Dorchester is a five-star luxury hotel on Park Lane and Deanery Street in London, to the east of Hyde Park. It is one of the world's most prestigious and expensive hotels. The Dorchester opened on 18 April 1931, and it still retains its ...

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 In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

villa in

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre. In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family an ...

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