The Epicurean Duo: Great British Menu chef Samira Effa collaborates with Masterchef star George Birtwell on new exclusive dining experience business

Samira Effa, from Huddersfield, has had a passion for cooking since she was in high school and since then she has worked her way up the culinary ladder.

Her first job was as a part time chef at a former restaurant in Huddersfield called Bradley’s where she stayed for four years and from there she moved to the Derbyshire-based AA Rosette gastropub The Devonshire Arms.

She’s since worked at Michelin-starred restaurants including 21212 in Edinburgh, Bohemia in Jersey, Alimentum in Cambridge and returned to Yorkshire where she worked at TRUEFoods in Ripon where she met The Black Swan at Oldstead senior sous chef, George Birtwell. Ms Effa has been the head chef at Grantley Hall’s Eighty Eight restaurant.

For years, the couple always wanted to work together for their own business and she encouraged him to apply for Masterchef: The Professionals.

What started off as a joke ended up a huge success and Mr Birtwell gained a reputation and large following on social media. They decided now was the time to set up a new private dining experience called The Epicurean Duo.

“We said to each other at some point in our lifetime together we wanted to set something up for ourselves,” Ms Effa said.

“We’ve both been Michelin trained, we’ve both worked at really good restaurants and we thought we would like to do something for us.

“[We were inspired to set it up] when George was on Masterchef. I have a little bit of knowledge in the industry and people know me because I’ve been on the Great British Menu.

“We had a conversation and I said if we were to set up something people would need to know who you are before we set it up. We had a laugh, jokey conversation and I said why don’t you do Masterchef.

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“He said no I can’t do it, I don’t want to do the skills test. Obviously it’s such a daunting experience, but I said it would be so great for him, not only for him to be known in the industry but for people to know how good he is.

“He went through all the audition process, he got picked to do it, he did really well and got to the final three. He’s now got an amazing following on social media.

“People want to see what he’s doing and we said this is the best time to set it up because people will want to know what he’s doing after Masterchef.”

The Epicurean Duo is a dining experience where the public can request bespoke menus curated by Ms Effa and Mr Birtwell and was first launched in December 2024.

They have had many requests for meals inspired by the dishes they have cooked up on the Great British Menu and Masterchef.

We’ve had such a lovely response from it, people just want to support us in every way,” she said.

“We’ve had loads of enquiries, probably a lot more than what we thought we’d get. We’ve had enquiries about private dining experiences, but we’ve also had invitations from restaurants to do pop-ups and that sort of thing. It’s been great.

“We get inquiries in and it’s more like an intimate dining experience. We do restaurant quality food in your home.

“It can be anything from a four-course menu to a 10-course tasting menu and all the menus are bespoke.

“People have said ‘just cook what you want, let it be a surprise’, but there have been a few people who have seen me on the Great British Menu and seen George on Masterchef and they’ve seen certain dishes that they want to try.

“So we’ve had a few inquiries from people who have asked for dishes off the back of those two programmes.”

Ms Effa described what each experience entails.

“It means we come to your home, we bring everything with us, all the food, all the crockery,” she said.

“We cook everything ourselves; we explain the dishes in detail to the guests so they know where the produce has come from, how we’ve made it, any kind of interesting story behind the dishes and it’s like an intimate private dining experience but also it’s fun because it’s me and George. George loves to talk to people.”

The new venture could also potentially support a variety of local businesses.

Ms Effa recommended her favourite restaurant to visit for Galentine’s Day.

“We have a good relationship with a lot of businesses around us, we eat at a lot of restaurants,” she said.

“It’s not confirmed yet but we’ve been asked to do restaurant pop-ups on a Tuesday which will hopefully see that restaurant be full on a Tuesday where they might not be full otherwise.

“It means that we get to work with another chef and I think that’s the way we would support local businesses.

“One of my favourite restaurants that’s very local to us in Ripon is Manchega, a Spanish tapas restaurant. It’s run by a guy called Richard; he’s the life of the restaurant so when you go he’s always there to serve you.

“You feel at home and the head chef there, Chris, makes small sharing plates. It’s super relaxed, simple and cooked very well. It’s also super affordable.

“You feel like you’re abroad, like you’re in Spain. It doesn’t feel like you’re in Ripon. It’s super cute, cool deco, good wines and Richard always gives you a sherry at the end of the meal.”