The Black Swan chef, chosen for this award by OFM’s panel of judges, tells how he made a family pub ‘in the middle of nowhere’ an inspirational restaurant at the heart of his Yorkshire community
On the face of it, chef Tommy Banks – the farmer’s son who turned the family’s village pub into a global beacon of grow-your-own self-sufficiency – is a painfully obvious OFM Local Food Hero. Cue: a bucolic tale of regional, seasonal Yorkshire folk, right?
Well, not quite. Because, like his food, this 30-year-old’s story is more complicated. Despite his farming background, the Black Swan chef was not born with green fingers. His food is not strictly seasonal. He does not serve Yorkshire on a plate.
Growing your own you have the ability to use ingredients in a way other people can’t
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