Tommy Banks talks about having two Michelin-starred restaurants in Yorkshire

“It’s all a bit surreal,” says Tommy Banks, whose Roots restaurant in York was awarded a Michelin Star in the 2021 Michelin Guide announced a week ago. Along with the one awarded to Shaun Rankin at Grantley Hall, it takes Yorkshire’s total to seven.

“When I told the staff all they wanted to do was go out there and show everyone what they could do – but of course we are closed so they couldn’t.”

Banks already has a Michelin Star for the Black Swan at Oldstead - an accolade he received when he was just 24, making him the youngest chef in the UK at the time to receive a Star.

Three years ago the Black Swan, which was bought by Banks’s parents in 2006, was named the Best Restaurant in the World by Tripadvisor, beating the likes of Heston Blumenthal’s three Michelin-starred Fat Duck. It is hard to follow such a commendation, but Banks is pretty grounded, despite television successes on the Great British Menu and even a spell hosting The Big Family Cooking Showdown.

It is the food that drives this talented chef, he views TV appearances on shows like Saturday Kitchen as a means to an end – a way of keeping his profile, and therefore that of his restaurants, in the public eye.

He remembers all too keenly the days when the Black Swan was struggling to get people to travel out to the village of Oldstead and worrying how they were going to pay the staff.

Winning a Michelin Star doesn’t automatically put bums on seats – but it helps. It was winning the BBC’s Great British Menu in 2016 that really started the phones ringing and allowed Banks to breathe a little more easily.

This is not a chef who is afraid of hard work or one to rest on his laurels. Opening Roots could have been seen by many, even at one point his own brother James, who is in charge of the drinks side of the business, as an unnecessary risk. But Banks wanted to share what they were creating with a wider audience. He knew the Black Swan was out of the price range of many people and was booked up months in advance, so he wanted to open a more accessible offering and Roots was born.

With the help of his dad Tom (TB as he is known to family and friends) they purchased the former Bay Horse pub on Marygate, York. Banks is quick to acknowledge the blood, sweat, tears and sleepless nights they all put into opening Roots on time. All that work has now been vindicated with the award of the Michelin Star. Having two Michelin Star restaurants by the age of 31 sets Banks apart from his peers once again.

He believes that receiving a Michelin Star isn’t just good for business, it is good for everyone. “It really puts the pressure on and raises everyone’s game which I think is brilliant. I believe a year after getting a Michelin Star a restaurant becomes even better and that’s what I’m excited about,” he says. “Awards really aren’t what drives us but it does give you the confidence that what you are doing is right.” He admits that some chefs view it differently finding that having a Michelin Star can raise people’s expectations unrealistically and the threat of losing it can be unbearable. “Early on in my career I may have worried about that, but now I realise that everyone’s expectations are different and all you can do is be the best you possibly can be.” He also views the Michelin Star for Roots as a positive for York’s culinary scene. “It is the first Michelin Star York has ever had. The York food scene has been getting better and better – not just restaurants, but bakeries and takeaways and it was about time that it got some recognition.”

Banks maintains the success is really down to his dedicated staff, especially Roots’s head chef Sean Wrest. His gratitude to his staff was highlighted by the announcement that the Black Swan was one of 23 restaurants to be awarded the first Michelin Green Stars for gastronomy and sustainability.

“Sustainability is at the core of our ethos,” says Banks, who wrote a cookery book also named Roots which explains his view on the seasons, especially the need to preserve food when it is abundant on the farm. “We source most of our produce from my parents’ farm, which uses sustainable farming practices, with 30 acres dedicated to the restaurant, and the rest of our produce sourced from like-minded suppliers. To receive the Green Star was really important to us. Not just in recognition of all the work we do on the farm and in the restaurants, but because I really hope it will make a wider difference.

“Chefs are really competitive and this has put us on a bit of a pedestal for sustainability. I think they will now all be trying really hard to get a Green Star and that can only be good for the environment.”

Like most restaurateurs the Banks family has had to furlough staff during the pandemic. During the first lockdown Banks developed Made in Oldstead, recreating the Black Swan’s food in meal boxes for people to enjoy at home, but also as a way of keeping some staff in work and helping his suppliers ­– something he is very aware of. “Chefs are very good at shouting about things, but there has been a huge knock-on effect to our suppliers whose livelihoods were pretty much wiped out overnight. I feel passionately that I want to do as much as I can to support them during this incredibly difficult time.”

Made in Oldstead, which now employs 30 staff, has proved a surprise success to Banks, who plans to continue the service even after his restaurants reopen. Although his main focus is getting the restaurants ready to open when restrictions ease, he is also working on another project close to his heart – heading up the new fine-dining restaurant at Lord’s Cricket Ground.

Banks dreamed of playing cricket for England before being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease as a teenager which put paid to that, and he went to work in the kitchen of the family pub instead. His love of cricket has never diminished and it was a dream come true to be asked to curate the food on offer at a new fine dining restaurant at the home of cricket. Banks will be the opening chef of the new Edrich restaurant at Lord’s, hopefully later this year.

And if all that weren’t enough he has a wedding the organise – his own – to girlfriend Charlotte Kenny. The pair had planned to marry last year but had to cancel due to the pandemic. And although he is keen to get married as soon as possible he wants to do it properly.

“We have waited this long and so now I think we will wait until we can have a proper celebration – I want to be able to hug everyone at my wedding.”

www.rootsyork.com

www.blackswanoldstead.co.uk