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The Box Tree

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For the species of tree known as box, see Buxus
The Box Tree
Map
Restaurant information
Established1962
Owner(s)Simon Gueller, Rose Gueller, Marco Pierre White
ChefSimon Gueller
Food typeModern French
Rating1 Michelin star (Michelin Guide 2005)
Street address35–37 Church Street
CityIlkley, West Yorkshire
CountryEngland
WebsiteOfficial website

The Box Tree is a restaurant located in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, England. It opened in 1962, and gained two Michelin stars in 1977, becoming one of the first four restaurants in the UK to receive that accolade. After losing both stars, it regained a star between 1996 and 2001, whilst owned by Helen Avis. Chef Simon Gueller and his wife Rose purchased the restaurant in 2005, with it regaining a single star during the same year. In 2010, former employee Marco Pierre White bought into the restaurant. It serves Modern French cuisine, and has also been awarded three AA rosettes.

Description

The Box Tree has been located at 35–37 Church Street in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, since its original opening under Malcolm Reid and Colin Long in 1962.[1][2] It has been operated by Simon and Rose Gueller since 2004,[3] whom originally leased it from the previous operator.[4] Simon Gueller had previously been head chef at the Michelin-starred restaurant Rascasse.[3][5] The Guellers also run a sister company called Box Tree Events, which provides outside catering.[6]

After being purchased by the Guellers in 2004, the restaurant was redecorated and modernised, after the décor had become shabby under previous owners. The new decorations included recessed lighting and fabric walls.[3] There is a fireplace in the centre of the dining room, with a 18th-century settle (a type of bench) beside it.[2] Elements from the Reid and Long era remain, with the bar and ceilings still being recognisable from the original owners of the restaurant.[7]

The current menu still features elements from the earlier days of the restaurant,[2] such as Lobster Thermidor and grouse.[8] Chef Gueller produces modern French cuisine,[9] with classical elements. Dishes on the restaurant's menu include a terrine of foie gras which comes served with a salad of smoked eel, alongside apple served both as a jelly and as a purée.[10] Foie gras was temporarily taken off the menu in 2008 following threats of protests from animal rights activists.[11] The dish was later restored to the menu, and was also served with a duck terrine and pistachios.[7]

To celebrate the 45th anniversary of the restaurant in 2008, Gueller recreated elements of the 1963 menu, but could not bring himself to make certain dishes such as chicken chasseur or melon boats. Other parts of the original menu included half a grilled grapefruit and crêpes. The dishes selected were included for a week in a six course 1960s set menu.[12]

History

The sandstone building itself dates back to the 1720s.[10][13] It was originally owned by Reid and Long who initially operated the premises as a tea room.[2] The restaurant gained two Michelin stars in 1977; that year's list was the first to feature two star restaurants in the UK. The other three restaurants were The Waterside Inn, Le Gavroche, and The Connaught.[14]

Following the Michelin stars, the restaurant became a hot-spot for celebrities, with singers such as Johnny Mathis and Shirley Bassey being regulars, and Margaret Thatcher was photographed by a local paper whilst at the restaurant.[2] In 1979 future multi-Michelin starred chef Marco Pierre White began working at the Box Tree at the age of 17, under Reid and Long; he received his training at the restaurant.[15][16] He would later recall in his book White Heat that the restaurant made him obsessed with food and he still considers the restaurant to be his spiritual home.[15][17]

After holding the two Michelin stars until 1988, and then losing its single star in 1991,[9] in 1992 the restaurant went into receivership and was purchased by Helen Avis. Under chef Thierry LePratre-Granet, the restaurant was restored to a single Michelin star in 1996.[18] White returned to the restaurant as a consultant during a spell in 1994, something which lasted two months ended in a court case as Avis successfully brought proceedings against the chef with damages of £880 awarded after he damaged a ceiling during his time there.[19][20]

LePratre-Granet left the restaurant in 2001, and was replaced by Toby Hill, who was the youngest chef ever to hold a Michelin star. The change of chef also changed the style of food served,[21] something which did not last as Hill left after only seven months in charge of the kitchen. He was replaced by Shane Goodway in 2002 and the style was changed back to traditional French.[22][23] The restaurant lost the Michelin star in the 2003 edition of the guide was no longer included in either the AA Restaurant Guide and the Good Food Guide.[9][24] Goodway quit the kitchen shortly after the restaurant lost the Michelin star, but stated that the decision had been taken before they had been informed.[25]

After the Guellers leased the restaurant from Avis in 2004, it regained a Michelin star within five months of re-opening.[2] A year later, the owner put the restaurant up for sale with the Guellers' lease running until 2017.[4] Having been friends with Gueller since they were teenagers,[26] Marco Pierre White returned to the restaurant in 2007 in order to film segments for the ITV1 cookery reality television show Hell's Kitchen.[27] In 2010, White bought into the restaurant as a partner and in 2012 helped to celebrate the restaurant's fiftieth anniversary.[15][26] White has aspirations to work with Gueller to return the Box Tree to its former status as a two-Michelin-starred restaurant.[28]

Reception

Jan Moir reviewed the restaurant in 2004 for The Daily Telegraph shortly after Gueller took over and refurbished the restaurant. She praised the lighter style of the food under the new chef, and although she was initially concerned over what seemed to be a dated dish of squab pigeon, she described the dish as "neatly executed", and the most successful dish that she tasted.[17] She thought that the chef was good, but needed time to settle in and described his wife Rina in front of house as a "complete natural".[17] Jay Rayner visited the restaurant in 2005, prior to the restaurant being awarded a new Michelin star. The pointed out some issues regarding menu pricing as there were differences in prices on the website as opposed to in person. He thought that the scallops were undercooked, and the brioche which came with a beef tenderloin arrived soggy. He said that the dishes "showed an understanding of the fundamentals", but weren't of particular note.[3]

In 2012, Jill Turton ate at the restaurant for the Yorkshire Post following the restaurant's fiftieth anniversary, and described some dishes, such as asparagus and a soft boiled egg which had been cooked in a bain-marie, as "perfect".[7] She described the meal overall as "terrific",[7] but said that the desserts were not a stretch for the kitchen, having ordered a chocolate brownie.[7]

Harden's, a British restaurant guide, describes the food as "light and delicious", and the cooking as "exemplary".[1] In its review system, it rates the food as one out of five (one being the highest rating available), and both service and ambiance as two out of five.[1] The Automobile Association has awarded The Box Tree three AA rosettes.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c "The Box Tree". Harden's. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Star turn". Telegraph and Argus. 26 January 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d Rayner, Jay (6 February 2005). "Cottage industry". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  4. ^ a b Murphy, Lizzie (29 September 2005). "Restaurant row leads to £1m sale" (Subscription required). The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  5. ^ Bozec, Louise (7 November 2001). "Rascasse to join Simply Heathcotes chain after revamp". Caterer and Hotelkeeper. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  6. ^ "Michelin-starred restaurant launches new website". 10 October 2007. Easier Lifestyle. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  7. ^ a b c d e Turton, Jill (25 June 2012). "Restaurant Review: Box Tree, Ilkley". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  8. ^ Rayner, Jay (10 October 2004). "Food Turning Over a New Leaf" (Subscription required). The Observer. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  9. ^ a b c "Restaurant regains coveted star in Wharfedale double". Ilkley Gazette. 27 January 2005. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  10. ^ a b c "Box Tree Restaurant". The AA. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  11. ^ Langan, Paul (23 May 2008). "Cruelty claim puts paté off Ilkley menu". Ilkley Gazette. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  12. ^ Sutcliffe, Robert (13 November 2008). "Top restaurant marks milestone... by pushing the melon boat out" (Subscription required). The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  13. ^ "Box Tree". Via Michelin. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  14. ^ Dixon, Rachel (24 January 2008). "Q&A: Michelin stars". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  15. ^ a b c "Chef Marco Pierre White cooks up Box Tree deal". Telegraph and Argus. 6 October 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  16. ^ "Ilkley restaurant celebrates 50th anniversary". Ilkey Gazette. 22 March 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  17. ^ a b c Moir, Jan (23 October 2004). "Are you ready to order? This week: Box Tree Restaurant". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  18. ^ Greaves, Amanda (13 May 2010). "Box Tree's Madame Avis dies, aged 81". Ilkley Gazette. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  19. ^ Murray, John (21 February 1994). "Pembroke: The chef went through the roof". The Independent. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  20. ^ Petre, Jonathan (4 May 1993). "Chef Marco White quits the Box Tree" (Subscription required). The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  21. ^ "Star chef joins the Box Tree". Ilkley Gazette. 18 May 2001. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  22. ^ Bozec, Louise (7 November 2001). "Hill to quit Box Tree after seven months". Caterer and Hotelkeeper. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  23. ^ "New chef is restoring the French taste". Ilkley Gazette. 25 January 2002. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  24. ^ "Ripe old bust-up in clementine chaos". Ilkley Gazette. 3 October 2003. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  25. ^ Gledhill, Bob (30 January 2003). "Shane Goodway to leave Box Tree". Caterer and Hotelkeeper. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  26. ^ a b "Chef Marco Pierre White and Friends Celebrate 50 Years of the Box Tree in Ilkley". Yorkshire Life. May 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  27. ^ McKiernan, Jennifer (26 July 2007). "Top chefs stir up a flavour of their past in Ilkley". Ilkley Gazette. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  28. ^ "Top chef Marco returns to "spiritual home" in Ilkley". BBC News. 5 October 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
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