Chef Anna Søgaard Is Ahead Of The Curve

19th December 2024 | By Patrick Dunne

Restaurant news that stops you in your tracks isn’t exactly common, but when it was announced that Anna Søgaard, the highly touted head chef of the mega-buzzy Shoreditch spot Bistro Freddie was stepping down less than a year after opening, it raised eyebrows. Bistro Freddie was – and still is – riding a wave of French Bistro revival in London.

“From the get-go, we were busy – it was almost a full six months of being fully booked,” says Søgaard, talking to us at The Athenaeum Hotel, who credits a post-COVID desire for luxurious dining as part of the revival. “People wanted to feel that type of classic service of being properly looked after, and to indulge.”

Still in her early 30s and in her first head chef role, the spot had something that every restaurant craves – being talked about (a feature in the Evening Standard was appropriately titled “Why Everyone’s Obsessed With Bistro Freddie“). Helming such a sharp rise, you would imagine bistro-cooking was her long-term goal, but for Søgaard, it was not necessarily an obvious step.

Working in a kitchen takes a particular mentality – the high-octane pressure cooker of an environment is difficult to sustain unless you really love it, as anyone who still has nightmares from their university-era waiter stint can attest. For Søgaard, as well as a love of hosting, this is what launched her career in hospitality. “Seeing how fast-paced it was, the talent and hard work behind the food, the whole world fascinated me.”

Tradition with a twist

Growing up Danish-American she had two obvious options for culinary school, one much more financially viable, and so she returned to Denmark for three years of culinary school. After more than five years of cooking in the UK, it’s once again her Danish roots she feels drawn to.

I want to do something that’s not really being done at the moment.

Denmark – and especially Copenhagen – is one of the world’s most famous gastronomic capitals, widely visited, and yet in London, the cuisine is often misunderstood and barely represented. She fondly mentions smørrebrød, the open sandwich that is as close to a national dish as there is, as an example. “People who aren’t Danish think of it as a sandwich when, in reality, it’s more of a dish – you eat it with a knife and fork on a plate”, she laughs.

As for cooking other cuisines, from early conversations with Bistro Freddie restauranteur and owner Dominic Handy (Crispin), the concept was key. They wanted the French bistro offering but with a modern take. This meant an open kitchen (“we wanted it to have a very social atmosphere where people could see the chef’s working”) and twists on classic dishes like snail flatbread. In a broader sense, her respective stints at Manchester-based Erst and Bistro Freddie were ahead of the curve, the first wave of what would become wider trends, but they were still part of a wider movement. As for why she chose to leave the hit French spot in the summer? Well, it was a creative decision.

Although free to experiment and develop the menu with her team, Søgaard notes, “When you take on a head chef role of a restaurant where the concept’s already largely been determined, of course, in a sense you’re cooking what someone else is telling you to cook”. Her departure caused a stir because it seemed strange that you would leave such a successful enterprise in a famously tumultuous industry, but it was the success that gave her the freedom to take the plunge and step aside. “It made me realise that I really wanted to do something creatively that was authentically me,” she says.

Her next chapter – Jomfru, a pop-up series focused on a modern but authentic take on Danish cuisine and Nordic plates – is launching in 2025. For the city’s food scene, it’s a venture into the new. “In London, there’s a little bit of sameness in the restaurant scene,” she notes. “I want to do something that’s not really being done at the moment”.

Changing kitchen dynamics

Bistro Freddie hit the ground running, developing a reputation as a cool bistro packing serious flavour, but the preparation was anything but smooth sailing. Søgaard was attached to the project a year before the opening and moved down to London to learn about the restaurant scene, hire out the team and develop the menu. This she did in her own kitchen alongside her sous Frankie (also from Erst) while builders were gutting the Shoreditch site.

Myself as a head chef, our general manager was a woman, our head of wine was a woman – that’s almost unheard of in the industry.

“The fun of a restaurant opening is that it really does look like a building site until about 24 hours before opening night.” It’s no secret that restaurants can be stressful places, but even Søgaard has to laugh when remembering the press-only opening night. “It was the first time all of us had cooked as a team, and the kitchen wasn’t fully ready yet so we were cooking on a removable induction with tarp hanging around.”

How was the transition to a first-time head chef? Not much sleep, lots of adrenaline. Being the talk of the town and receiving positive reinforcement from diners – enhanced by the social environment of the open kitchen – fueled the frantic first few months. Legendary chef Pierre Kaufmann dined and was so impressed he asked for a photo with the team. “That was amazing” Søgaard smiles. “When you’re a first-time head chef it’s a big moment when someone like that comes in, tries your food, and goes out of their way to tell you how much they enjoyed it.”

When it came to building out the team, she knew there would be no compromises on one of the industry’s most pressing issues: A fifty-fifty gender split. “I’m a woman who’s worked in this incredibly male-dominated field my entire career, and this was the first time we not only had myself as a head chef, but our general manager was a woman, our head of wine was a woman – that’s almost unheard of in the industry.”

The new generation of chefs offers optimism that it won’t be as rare in the future. The performative machismo associated with some chefs of the older generation is, mercifully, not in vogue, with the younger cohort having a clearer set of boundaries about what is and is not acceptable in the workplace. “I really respect that about them, because that’s something that I never had as a young chef starting out.”

The Suppher club

And another project was taking off. While working in Manchester, Anna also launched Suppher, a women-led supper club with the ex-Erst sommelier Kim McBride, who proposed the concept to raise money for underfunded local charities she had experience with while volunteering at the Trafford Rape Crisis. They originally planned just one or two events, but the response was overwhelming.

Other women who worked in the male-dominated hospitality industry found a community and support network, and they had no option but to make it a permanent semi-regular fixture, with Søgaard fronting the kitchen and McBride the wine. Each dinner supports a local women’s charity where the money would be more keenly felt than at bigger organisations.

The project has gone from strength to strength. Earlier this summer, they held the first international Suppher dinner in Marseille, collaborating with chef Auregan Déan and sommelier Marine Dogliano. Collaboration has become a central aspect, each dinner platforming women in the industry for whom recognition is still not as easily achieved as their male counterparts. “A focus for us is to showcase women who aren’t necessarily just head chefs,” says Søgaard. “They might be a sous chef or chef de parties with this incredible idea for a dish, and so much to say creatively.”

A focus for us is to showcase women who aren’t necessarily just head chefs.

In 2023 they became a registered charity with both a London and Manchester base, brought on additional directorial support, and created an online shop selling wines from female suppliers or makers. Next month they celebrate their five-year anniversary.

Next steps

If working alongside women in the industry was empowering, so was the freedom to create the menu, something Søgaard realised she craved in the professional kitchen as well. Since leaving Bistro Freddie, along with running Suppher she has had guest stints at Bruno and Ploussard before shifting closer to home. “I want to say something that’s more personal to who I am in my cooking, and I feel like I’m ready for that now,” she says. “And I want to go back to my Danish roots”. For Jofru, chances are it will take off, and if in a year your most in-the-know foodie friend brings you to the most talked about East-London spot and you find yourself eating smørrebrød with an urfa chilli twist, now you’ll know who to thank. 


Want to receive more great articles like this every day? Join our daily email now


  • Chef Anna Søgaard Is Ahead Of The Curve
    Win A Cocktail Masterclass + A Omakase Experience For 4 At Lucky Cat By Gordon Ramsay, Worth £900

    Join our emails packed full of ideas of the best places to eat out, drink, and generally great lifestyle content for your chance to win.

    Click for full T&Cs

  • Chef Anna Søgaard Is Ahead Of The Curve
    Win a Luxury Fragrance Bundle With Britain’s Most Elegant New Beauty Brand

    Join our emails packed full of ideas of the best places to eat out, drink, and generally great lifestyle content for your chance to win.

  • Chef Anna Søgaard Is Ahead Of The Curve
    Score 2 VIP ‘Love Fifteen’ Tickets Worth Over £660

    Join our emails packed full of ideas of the best places to eat out, drink, and generally great lifestyle content for your chance to win.

    Click for full T&Cs

  • Chef Anna Søgaard Is Ahead Of The Curve
    Win A Fondue Experience For Four Worth Over £200

    Join our emails packed full of ideas of the best places to eat out, drink, and generally great lifestyle content for your chance to win.

    Click for full T&Cs

  • Chef Anna Søgaard Is Ahead Of The Curve
    Win A Stay At Boutique London Hotel Worth Over £500

    Join our emails packed full of ideas of the best places to eat out, drink, and generally great lifestyle content for your chance to win.

  • Chef Anna Søgaard Is Ahead Of The Curve
    Win Acclaimed 9-Course Tasting Menu With Wine Pairing For Two At London’s Top Restaurant

    Join our emails packed full of ideas of the best places to eat out, drink, and generally great lifestyle content for your chance to win.

    Click for full T&Cs