Interview with Eve Seemann representing London & the South East on Great British Menu 2025 – Women In the Food Industry

Great British Menu (GBM) returned to our screens in January for season 20. The BBC2 show puts the nation’s most talented chefs to the test. At Women in the Food Industry we are continuing our series of interviews with the strong female line-up of chefs from across Britain competing to serve their dish at the final banquet. Our co-founder, Mecca Ibrahim, interviewed Eve Seemann Head Chef at Green Michelin starred Apricity in Mayfair.

Originally from Paris, France, Eve is representing the London & the South East Region.

How did you start working in the hospitality world and where did you train to be a chef?

So I started in hospitality when I was a student back in Paris. I started working in a little bistro just down the road from my mom’s flat. My very first steps in hospitality in London was where I worked worked in a little pub in Hackney where I used to live. Then I went back to Paris for my studies and this is where I worked in bistros and discovered a different side to the industry.

Then one day, just out of the blue, I thought, I’m just going to quit my job anyway and go into a professional kitchen. The head chef of where I used to work actually got me into the Sheraton Grand so I started working there. After a few months I joined Westminster Kingsway and did two years of culinary training there.  It was brilliant, I enjoyed every second of it.

This is your first time on Great British Menu, how did you get onto Great British Menu?

Great British Menu has always been massive dream of mine. But I didn’t think it would be attainable because I was French. I never thought that would involve international chefs. However, I’ve now lived in London longer than I’ve not lived in  London.  I’ve come to terms with the fact I was invited on it. But it still feels so surreal. It’s such an unbelievable opportunity.

How did you prepare for the  Great Britons theme?

The theme was very vast. The way I thrive is by limiting myself. So, for example, in the restaurant, we try to limit ourselves to just British produce and that dictates the menu. So I wanted to go onto Great British Menu with the same sort of frame of mind.

There were two things I knew I wanted to definitely do, one of which was to celebrate the life of a climate activist. I wanted to represent what we do every day in the restaurant, which is pass on a message that change is possible and we can change the future of sustainability. So I was 100% sure that was something I was going to celebrate. And then finally being from London and the southeast, David Bowie had to be featured. His music has been a massive part of my life.

How did you find working with the cameras and the crew?

Well, with the studio itself, I felt quite at ease because I’ve been watching the show for so long.If you’re a big fan of some TV show like Scrubs and you were to go to the hospital, you’d know where things sort of are in your mind. However, that said, you’re also so focused on what you’re doing and the next steps that, camera wise, you tend to just forget the crew and you forget the cameras are there.

However you are being asked a few questions. You’ll being called here, you’re being called there. I think for me, that was the hardest, the waiting time between cooking and being judged.

Great British Menu is very much known for its props. Did you feel you embraced the props on the show?

Not as much as I should have, really. I think throughout the years, you see people like Spencer Metzger who looked like . he had the Ritz  budget to do his menu.  And with Sally Abe I remember the dish she did to celebrate Absolutely Fabulous when she had that beautiful plate made out of half bottles and things.

I don’t think I pushed the boat out enough.  Some of the guys on the show, like, had massive hand made wooden boards to put individually made plates on.  I said where did you get the boards from. They said  “Oh, it’s just my wood guy.”  Then I thought “Who has a wood guy?” I’m in Mayfair. I live in Lewisham. There’s no wood guy. There’s a TK Maxx!!!

Which course did you find the hardest to research and prepare for?

Well, first of all, I’d like to say that the production company is very helpful with the research and helping you to stay on track within your research. I’m quite an academic person as well. I’ve just completed a master’s a few months ago, and so I was still in that frame of mind where I know where to do my research. I know where to look for what I want, and I know how to reference a lot.  But without giving anything away, I think the research behind my main course was probably the one I’m proudest of because it celebrated something that’s really close to my heart. The dish itself required a lot of technique and  showcasing something I trained the most on.

Which chef that you have worked with has given you the most inspiration?

That’s a very difficult question for me because I have been very blessed. So when I started cooking and I wanted to go into Michelin, it was back in the day where staffing restaurants was not an issue for high end places. They had a queue of chefs at the door.  I was very lucky because I’ve worked for Pierre Gagnaire, and I’ve worked for Marcus Wareing. And I’ve worked for Adam Byatt and I am working for Chantelle Nicholson. So I’ve worked for people I’ve chosen to work for. They are all shaping the future of the industry in their own way.

I get a different inspiration from all of them. You get the crazy creativity of Gagnaire. You get the military style of Marcus Wareing and the classical British style from Adam Byatt.  Now, Chantelle has inspired me for so many years, and I’m still with her. She’s an inspiration, not only in the kitchen, but in her way of being & inspiration on becoming a manager and a decent human being.

I’ve dedicated the past 15 years of my life to hospitality, and hopefully in the next 15.  I seem to find inspiration everywhere now. Every single chef I have worked for, good or bad, has given me something, so I don’t really want to name just the one. It’s not possible.

If you were marooned on a desert island, what was the one type of dish you could happily live on?

I don’t think it’d be a dish. I think. Often with this job you don’t really sit down for a meal. You snack a lot. And this is very much how I eat in life. However, when I was a kid, I do remember something that everybody thought was actually quite gross.  I could literally live on fresh milk and fresh baguette. Where you dip your baguette in the milk and you eat it. That with copious amounts of cheese would work.

I love sandwiches. Not the little triangular ones. A proper, fresh baguette sandwich with crisp lettuce and delicious tomatoes inside. I could just live off that too. Anything involving bread, it sounds like, actually.

Finally, what do you know now that you wish you could have told your younger self when you were starting out?

It will all get better. Obviously there will be loads of ups and downs, but I think ultimately it’s not all doom and gloom and it does get better.

Eve will be appearing on Great British Menu from Tuesday 18th March 2025 representing the London & the South East  region. Look out for more in our series of interviews with the great women chefs on Great British Menu 2025 – this page will be regularly updated.