Chef-patron Mikael Jonsson has never done things the so-called normal way. The path he taken has certainly not been the route most have travelled. Swedish born, Jonsson was fortunate enough to eat in some of the best restaurants in Europe before he had even left school. It was a world which intrigued him but it didn’t claim him. Instead he became a lawyer in Sweden before settling in France.
Closing down…to open a new version of Hedone
Now he has made his mark as a chef via his restaurant in Chiswick, he is destined to take another gamble. This time he is closing down Hedone and on the same site opening a new version of his restaurant still to be called Hedone.
The site will be shut for 10 days and when it re-opens will have undergone minor refurbishments including new furniture and a makeover of the dining room and, most importantly, it will radically reduce the number seated in the dining room. Instead of seating 40 covers, Hedone will seat just 18 in the main room and up to 4 on stools overlooking the open kitchen.
Reduced opening; dramatically changed food
The restaurant will be opened for dinner Tuesday to Saturday and for lunch on Saturday only.
The food will change dramatically. By reducing the number of covers served, the food will be more elaborate and it will be possible to use increasingly sophisticated techniques. Chef Jonsson will be offering his customers the opportunity to experience his restaurant which will no longer have a menu.
Instead, it will propose to its customers two different tasting ‘menus’ though neither will be written down. The prices have yet to be set but one will have more exclusive or rare ingredients. Whilst this may appear at first glance of a press statement to offer a limited choice, chef Jonsson believes that it will be an exciting and liberating customised experience for the many returning customers that he and business partner Aurelie Jean-Marie-Flore cherish.
Dishes that produce amazement
This is a restaurant which concentrates on food and, with the reduced numbers, chef Jonsson and his kitchen brigade will be able to pour all their energy into creating more refined food, the type of dishes that produce ripples of amazement in its diners.
They are aiming to secure the wow factor that causes regular guests to fly in to London. Some even eat lunch and dinner on the same day before their schedules force them to leave this island. The dishes will be constantly changing. Having no menu gives the chef the freedom to do this.
One aspect that chef Jonsson wants to create it is a work environment that will be more attractive to the staff, as today’s work hours simply lead to high turnover. With fewer services, working hours will be more forgiving than that which is the norm in fine dining establishments in the UK. “I want my chefs to come back to work every week rested and full of energy. It is just not the case today.”
Hedone, 301-303 Chiswick High Road, London W4 4HH
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