Why Brooklands by Claude Bosi was the right move for Jonathan Ferguson

Jonathan Ferguson says the opportunity to join Brooklands by Claude Bosi “ticked a lot of boxes” as he settles into his first head chef role.

The 30-year-old recently joined Claude’s two-Michelin-starred rooftop restaurant at the Peninsula London hotel in Belgravia, following two years as sous chef at three-starred The French Laundry in California.

Jonathan’s previous experience in the UK includes stints at Glenturret Lalique and Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, in his native Scotland.

But now the 2022 winner of The Roux Scholarship has the chance to run the kitchen of one of England’s standout restaurants.

“I wasn’t really looking for a move at the time,” Jonathan told The Staff Canteen.

“I still had another year left on my visa out there. Obviously there’s a connection between chef (Claude) and (group culinary direction) André Garrett, because he’s working with him now across the company.

“I know André very well through The Roux Scholarship connection. He had mentioned my name to chef when they were potentially looking for a head chef.

“Chef dropped me a message and said, ‘are you up for having a chat?’ which was an interesting one to wake up to at five in the morning over there.

“I was kind of taking two looks at my phone going, ‘does that say Claude Bosi on my phone?’.

“It happened quite fast. That was the end of December. I ended up moving back here at the start of April.

 “I was very up for this position. It's the kind of thing that doesn't come up very often at all, let alone in London.

“There are not many times you'll see a two or a three-star restaurant saying they are looking for a head chef and I felt very ready for it.”

Asked why he decided to make the move to London and take on the role, Jonathan said: “It ticked a lot of boxes for me.

“It felt right because I could get back closer to family, which was a big draw.

“It was something that I’d kind of come to terms with, being away, that it just is what it is as I wanted to go and work in an incredible restaurant in America.

“I felt I was getting to an age where I was ready for this kind of position. The size of the team felt great to me.

“The backing of the hotel was another very important thing because I could have moved back to go and work for an independent restaurant, but it would have been a much riskier move with the way the land kind of lies in hospitality right now.

“Having a company like Peninsula behind the restaurant is huge because it just gives you a bit more security and a bit more stability.

“And then working with chef too. I love his food. I’ve eaten in three of his fine dining restaurants. I ate at Hibiscus when I was 18, ate at Bibendum and then ate here. I loved every meal. I loved the style of food.

“Even now, I’d say, and he says it too, it’s probably the most simple it’s been, in the best way. Everything’s quite stripped back and very clean and polished.

“It just suits me to a tee. It’s the kind of food that I want to eat and cook all the time.”

Change at Brooklands by Claude Bosi

It has been a period of change for Brooklands.

As well as André joining the group last summer, long-serving executive chef Francesco Dibenedetto left his role a few months later, after a decade of working alongside Claude.

Asked how the early days have been building up his own relationship with Claude, Jonathan said: “It’s amazing to have the trust and the support of Claude.

“He’s made it very clear from day one that I’m learning his style of cooking and his style of food, so the product is the product.

“In time, we’ll work together more in terms of he’ll come to me and say, ‘I’d love to do this, how are we going to go about it?’ And then I’ll have a little bit of input. So that is very much a collaborative effort.

“The running of the kitchen day to day, he’s very clear in the fact that I get to run it how I want to. He’s not going to come in and start telling me how it has to operate.

“I have free rein to set the kitchen up how I want it to look. That is kind of a culmination of everything I’ve done in the past 10-plus years, where I can have my own influence and set the team up how I want them to be set up.”

He added: “Chef’s been great. He’s been here a lot, like he said he would be when he was offering me the job, which is great.

“He’s been here most nights, most services when I’ve been here, trying to get bedded in and settle in.

“I love the fact that when he’s working service, there will be a yellow board set up in the pass and he’ll be the one standing carving the meat if he’s in the kitchen, and he’s the last one touching plates.

“For someone who’s been doing this so long to still have such a hands-on approach, I really appreciate it.

“I think it’s great for the team to see too, because you see someone like him coming in and still very involved in service.

“It’s very clear that he’s doing it because he loves doing it. He’s not doing it because he feels like he has to. He actually wants to be there doing that.

“I love that and I massively respect him for that.

“In terms of the creative process with the food, it’s a very open, honest dialogue with him.

“He’s not worried about upsetting someone by telling them the truth. If we present some kind of food to him and he doesn’t like it or he does like it, it’s very black and white.”