Meet Yorkshire Chef, Tommy Banks
We catch up with Tommy Banks who talks all things local and how Yorkshire has his heart
Tommy, who has never had any formal culinary training, grew up on his family’s farm with no real intention of becoming a chef – that was until he found himself reading cookbooks and becoming inspired. Tommy believes it’s more important for a chef to have experience than it is for them to follow certain training programmes. ‘I definitely think it’s more important to have experience, but I guess it’s also about mindset as well – one of the main things about the cooking and hospitality industry is that you generally get out what you put in. I’ve seen people join a team at the bottom and progress really quickly because they have an amazing attitude and they want to learn,’ he says.
At the age of 24 Tommy became one of the youngest Michelin-starred chefs and although he hopes his achievements can inspire others, he also admits that being so young frustrated him. ‘I used to get annoyed because I thought people only thought I was good because I was so young – now I’m 32 and I think I have to genuinely be good. But, I also think age isn’t that relevant in cooking. I happened to start when I was quite young and got good opportunities and managed to achieve [a Michelin star at the age of 24], but a lot of chefs in my team have been to university and done something totally different [before becoming a chef],’ he says.
Being in the industry for much of his working life, Tommy values the power of change and in fact welcomes the evolution of his style and methods throughout his career. ‘My style has 100 percent changed and I think it will continue to change all the time because you get older and gain more experience, meet new people and adapt within a team.’ He also recognises this within his restaurants and the food he serves. ‘The food we’re cooking has developed over time as people come in and collaborate together. It’s never really a conscious effort trying to be one thing or another, it just organically changes and grows,’ he says.
Over the last few years the pandemic has also clearly had an impact on the industry as a whole, and Tommy believes it has positively impacted the way he runs his business. ‘I think the pandemic has changed everything and people’s mindsets have changed for the better – certainly the way we run our business is better than ever because I think when you come to a total stop, it gives you the opportunity to question things that were just the norm,’ he says.
Despite changes and adaptations over the years, Tommy remains true to his roots with an ethos of self sufficiency, and the family have always taken pride in their zero food miles approach. At Oldstead, the family forage in the hedgerows and surrounding woodland, as well as growing traditional field crops which are the cornerstone of the business. It is this ethos which Tommy believes has brought people to both The Black Swan and Roots in York. ‘It’s not just the fact that it’s all grown onsite either, but also the interesting preparations that we do which others don’t,’ he says. Meals at both restaurants highlight preserved and fermented produce, as well as ingredients like black garlic and black apples which are cooked at 60 degrees for six weeks. ‘There’s an awful lot of time and effort which goes into each individual ingredient and I think that’s something you just can’t get elsewhere – and why people travel to try our food.’
Within the last few years the food scene has noticeably changed, with more and more people becoming invested in what and how they are eating. ‘Five or 10 years ago a chef could have had the most amazing mango from India and they would be shouting about it and how exotic it was, but I think that might be a bit of a turn off now as people are more interested in a particular cheese you’ve got from down the road. I also think people have started buying more locally and I guess as a country we haven’t always had that, whereas if you go to France for instance, they’re so proud of their local food. I think we’re really starting to discover that as a culture in the UK which is fantastic.’
It’s not just the UK that has seen a positive change within the food and drink industry, as Tommy explains, he has seen significant improvements within Yorkshire’s food culture. ‘Where I live just north of York, you don’t get a bad meal – actually it’s almost harder to find a bad meal than it is a good one – I think the people of Yorkshire won’t put up with bad food,’ he says. As a whole Yorkshire has seen a rise in food tourism and Tommy gives an example of numerous occasions when people have travelled from across the UK just to sample his food. ‘We’re starting to get real destination foodies who will go and support the local bakeries and sample the coffee shops and it makes a massive difference. We recently had some guests at The Black Swan who had flown from the Netherlands especially to come for dinner because they had seen me on Great British Menu, which is apparently big over there, so I think there is a real draw to our area that’s getting highlighted more too.’
‘We’re starting to get real destination foodies who will go and support the local bakeries and sample the coffee shops and it makes a massive difference’
It’s not just the UK that has seen a positive change within the food and drink industry, as Tommy explains, he has seen significant improvements within Yorkshire’s food culture. ‘Where I live just north of York, you don’t get a bad meal – actually it’s almost harder to find a bad meal than it is a good one – I think the people of Yorkshire won’t put up with bad food,’ he says. As a whole Yorkshire has seen a rise in food tourism and Tommy gives an example of numerous occasions when people have travelled from across the UK just to sample his food. ‘We’re starting to get real destination foodies who will go and support the local bakeries and sample the coffee shops and it makes a massive difference. We recently had some guests at The Black Swan who had flown from the Netherlands especially to come for dinner because they had seen me on Great British Menu, which is apparently big over there, so I think there is a real draw to our area that’s getting highlighted more too.’
Although both of his Michelin-starred restaurants have such great reputations, Tommy still appreciates and admires others within his field. ‘I take daily inspiration from the people within my own team – my two head chefs, Will at Roots and Callum at The Black Swan, drive me on with their passion, as well as our general manager Emma who is a real custodian of culture. More generally though, there are so many good places and it was great to see Restaurant Pine in Vallum get a Michelin star this year because it was really well deserved,’ he says. ‘The whole of the North is starting to get littered with Michelin stars which never existed years ago, and the more the merrier because the more we get the better the overall food culture will become.’
When Living North last spoke to Tommy in 2018 he said he couldn’t see himself moving away from Yorkshire anytime soon – and that seems to still be the case. ‘I do love being in Yorkshire and we have opened a restaurant in Lord’s cricket ground, but that’s only on match days which is great fun, and it’s a nice balance for the moment. We go down for a few weeks in the bright lights, but no, home is where the heart is and that’s definitely in Yorkshire.’
blackswanoldstead.co.uk
rootsyork.com
