Simon Gueller announces Samira Effa as new Box Tree head chef after Alimentum closure
Ex-Alimentum head chef Samira Effa will take up the same position at the Box Tree in Ilkley, chef patron Simon Gueller has confirmed.
Effa had headed up the brigade at the formerly-Michelin starred Cambridge restaurant before it closed indefinitely last week.
She will now join Gueller's team as it works to regain the star the Box Tree lost in the 2019 guide.
In a tweet, in which the Michelin guide was tagged, Gueller said: "I am delighted to announce Samira is joining me as Head Chef of the Box Tree. Welcome Samira #comeback #comeback"
Speaking to The Caterer, Effa said she was put in touch with Gueller by Midsummer House's Daniel Clifford, who reached out as news spread of the closure of Alimentum.
She added: "I'm just really excited to be part of the whole history. I'm going to be working really closely alongside Simon, and I don't want to take too much away from what the Box Tree is because it is very classical, but we have spoken about menus and things like that.
"Obviously with the things I've been doing at Alimentum I've been very free to put whatever I wanted on the menu - and from working with other chefs I have taken on things like Asian influences and African influences, especially from my background as well.
"So I'm going slowly, I want to put things like that on the menu but I don't want to take anything away from what the Box Tree is, I'm just really excited to be a part of it."
Earlier this week Gueller had told The Caterer he would be returning to the kitchen adding that the loss of the star had "awoken something" within him.
Effa added regaining the star was "definitely something we're going to be working towards"
She said: "It's a destination restaurant, people want to go and eat there, and I think he does really want to get the star back - but he wants more than that.
"He wants to show people that its the restaurant that it has always been and I definitely wanted to be a part of that."
Chef Simon Gueller returns to Box Tree kitchen following loss of Michelin star>>
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