Celebrity chef Marco Pierre White is coming back to Ilkley as a partner at the restaurant where he trained.
The Michelin-starred chef, famous for his fiery temper and dubbed the enfant terrible of the UK restaurant scene, is returning to his spiritual home at Ilkley’s Box Tree restaurant.
The television presenter has gone into partnership with Box Tree owners Simon and Rena Gueller.
The Leeds-born chef started work at the Box Tree in 1979, before moving on to train under big names in London.
Simon said: “Marco and I go back a long way, and with Marco cutting his teeth here at The Box Tree, he’s always thought of the restaurant as his spiritual home. We’re looking forward to working on exciting and innovative projects with Marco, both here at the Box Tree in Ilkley and with our Box Tree Events, our outside catering business. We can’t wait.”
The Box Tree itself, on Church Street, is Michelin-starred, and is regarded as the town’s premier eaterie.
Marco will be joining Simon and Rena at the Box Tree this month to launch the first project.
The chef, whose television fame includes ITV show Hell’s Kitchen, paid tribute earlier this year to the former owner of the Box Tree, the ‘formidable’ Helen Avis.
He described Madame Avis, as she liked to be known, as one of the greatest people ever to walk the streets of Ilkley.
