Jake's appointment, exclusively revealed by The Staff Canteen, comes after Danny Parker posted on Instagram that he would be moving on to start a new role as executive chef at Jesmond Dene House.
Jake Siddle and Kenny Atkinson
Jake, 24, has been working for Kenny for over seven years, first working with him at Rockcliffe Hall and has been at House of Tides since day one when it opened in 2014.
Kenny said: "Jake knows the kitchen inside out, he is hugely respected from the whole team at House of Tides, a young chef who loves our industry and is passionate about his craft, he began his career as a commis chef at Rockcliffe Hall and has worked his way up to sous chef at House of Tides, and now my new head chef.
"You might say at 24 Jake is young, I disagree, I have built a strong structure in place for both front of house and kitchen, so this will allow Jake to grow into the role as we did with Danny.
"I've always promoted from within throughout my career, and I don't see why I would need to change this now or bring someone in from the outside when we are already at a level we are progressing too which I'm very happy with. You have to put that time and development into people and allow them to grow. This testament is vital to our success and has shown with 90% of our team who have been here since our first day of opening in 2014 and are now all in senior roles within our team.
"It's very important that if the team are loyal to me I need to be loyal to them and invest my time into them to making them stronger in their roles but making them stronger as people too.
“As with Danny, he too came in as a sous chef at the young age of 23 and promoted him to head chef at 24, I’ve always encouraged and supported him within the kitchen and outside it in terms of TV opportunities. Some chef owners may have said no but we didn’t, we supported him making a name for himself in this industry.
"We're very proud of Danny and how he has grown as a chef and as a person, now that Danny has become a father he felt it was the right time to leave and do something on his own and make his own success. We are very thankful for all his hard work during his 4 and a half years at House of Tides and my wife Abbie and I and the whole team at House of Tides wish him all the best in his new role at Jesmond Dene House."
He added: "People looking in from the outside might think Danny leaving is bigger than it is but nothing will change for us, we're not bringing in a big name as I’ve seen mentioned on social media sites, why would I do this as I’m here every day, it’s like football, we lose a player, a new player steps in but it’s down to the team as a whole to work together in order to be successful, it is as simple as that.”
Jake Siddle, head chef, House of Tides
Kenny and Abbie opened House of Tides in 2014 and achieved his dream of bringing a star back to the city for the first time in 20 years in 2015. It is currently Newcastle's only Michelin-starred and 4 AA Rosette restaurant and recently ranked number 30 in the top 100 restaurant awards last month.
Kenny said: "We always want to keep moving it forward, and in terms of accolades there is always an opportunity to push up to the next level but more importantly I’m passionate and driven to improving the dining experience as a whole for our guests.”
Before opening House of Tides Kenny worked for Simon Hulstone and Hywel Jones he then headed to the Scilly Isles and achieved his first Michelin star. He then went back to the north east and maintained the Michelin star at Seaham Hall until he left and became executive chef at Rockliffe Hall.
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