08 Dec 2023
Jono entered the world of hospitality after attending Thomas Danby Food College in Leeds before starting an apprenticeship at Beeties in Saltaire.
Talking about how he entered the industry, Jono explained: “I think it’s the same for everybody, everyone just falls into it.”
He said: “I went to college to do sport, to be a PE teacher, but it didn’t really work out. I didn’t really like the people in the class, didn’t really like the vibe, didn’t really get on with that sort of crowd so I fell into the restaurants and the catering side of things.”
Discussing his time at Beeties in Saltaire, Jono said: “It was a really good restaurant, a fine dining restaurant, and I probably wasn’t really ready for it if anything. It was very high end for that time. I just stayed and just progressed through there and eventually worked at a load of restaurants.”
Since then, Jono has trained in some of the world's most progressive and sought-after professional kitchens, from Michelin-starred Noma, The Man Behind the Curtain in Leeds, and The Box Tree in Ilkley.
He became a household name after taking part in MasterChef: The Professionals series 13 in 2020 where his talent stood out.
Talking about his time on the show, Jono said: “It put me on the map. Everyone saw what I did and what I can do.”
He added: “I was already working as a head chef, people in Leeds knew what I was doing, I was doing fine dining food, I already had a little bit of a reputation, so if anything, I was kind of putting myself on the line for doing it because I was already an ok chef. People knew what I was on about and what I was doing.”
Looking at the youth within the industry, Jono believes that there’s hundreds of talent young chefs with nowhere to go, who end up working for agencies because hotels and restaurants won’t take them on or allow them to express themselves.
“I think times have changed but I still think there are talented chefs are out there but still they’ve got nowhere to go. You want to open your own restaurant, it’s as simple as that, that’s where you want to be, where you can put your own thing on the menu. That is the only way, that is the only goal for a talented chef to be because there is nowhere to go,” explained Jono.
By owning his restaurant, Jono has the space to experiment and be creative with food and menus, allowing him to properly build his profile and brand.
However, owning a restaurant is no walk in the park. Talking about the journey of wanting to start your restaurant and making the dream a reality, Jono revealed: “It’s tough because when you get in the building no one tells you the blueprint. You get in the building, there’s nothing there, there’s just bricks and mortar and you’re like ‘cool what’s the first thing I should buy?’, or, ‘what’s the first thing I should do?’ No one gives you the blueprint of like maybe you should speak to the council, maybe you should speak to a surveyor, maybe you should speak to the landlord.”
“There’s no blueprint for it. You just get on with it, you just do it,” explained Jono.