Samira Effa is head chef of Restaurant EightyEight at Grantely Hall – and will be flying the flag for Yorkshire on the Great British Menu 2024 season.
Samira has been head chef since June 2022 at the Asian-inspired EightyEight, located at Grantley Hall hotel in North Yorkshire.
Huddersfield-born Samira returns to compete for the third time, after losing out to Tom Anglesea in series 14, and leaving prematurely in series 15.
Samira has been in the industry for more than 17 years, and her talent has consistently made culinary waves as her food style continues to evolve.
Samira started her career in Yorkshire, at Bradley’s restaurant in Huddersfield, and has a wealth of experience having worked at Bohemia in Jersey; 21212 in Edinburgh, and Alimentum in Cambridge.
Born to an Iranian mother and Nigerian father, her experience of food and cooking whilst growing up was incredibly diverse. She likes to draw inspiration from her upbringing and the places she’s worked whilst creating her menus.
Her menu celebrates the great Olympic athletes from Yorkshire.
The 19th series of Great British Menu starts on Tuesday, January 23, at 8pm on BBC Two, with Samira’s region, North East and Yorkshire, being the first in the series to compete this year.
This year the series theme is celebrating the Olympics and Paralympics, and is presented by Andi Oliver, with regular judges, the previous two-time banquet winner, Tom Kerridge, restaurateur Nisha Katona and comedian and food podcast broadcaster, Ed Gamble.
