Business Finance Media Technology Policy Wealth Insights Interviews

Art Art Fairs Art Market Art Reviews Auctions Galleries Museums Interviews

Lifestyle Nightlife & Dining Style Travel Interviews

Power Lists Nightlife & Dining Art A.I. PR

About About Observer Advertise With Us Reprints

After 20 Years, Tommy Banks’ The Black Swan Is Still Fiercely Rooted in Oldstead

As The Black Swan turns 20, Tommy Banks reflects on the foraging, farming and preservation that have made the Oldstead restaurant one of England’s most singular dining destinations.

While some chefs fly ingredients in from all over the world, Tommy Banks is interested in what’s in his backyard. The chef grew up in Oldstead, a village in the northeast of England, and he’s built an entire career in the area, dedicating himself to cultivating the best possible products from the region. His Michelin-starred restaurant, The Black Swan, celebrates its 20th anniversary in August—a milestone that showcases just how much the destination has evolved. 

Sign Up For Our Daily Newsletter

Thank you for signing up!

By clicking submit, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime.

“It’s night and day,” Banks tells Observer. “When we first opened, I was a 17-year-old kid, and it was a local pub. For the last decade, my focus has been on creating something unique and something that’s solely of the area.”

Banks, 37, grew up on his parents’ small farm, where they also ran a bed and breakfast. It was hard to make ends meet solely by farming wheat, barley and rapeseed, so when Banks was a teenager, his parents took on the local pub, The Black Swan. “I had no interest in it whatsoever,” he says. “I worked there because I’d left school and needed a job. I waited tables, I washed pots.”

At the time, Banks didn’t consider becoming a chef. He dreamed of pursuing a career as a cricket player. But when he was 18, his grandfather died, and the grief was so intense he developed an aggressive autoimmune disease called ulcerative colitis. He had part of his bowel removed and was bedridden for months. 

“That put to bed any ideas of being a professional sportsman,” he says. “I had three operations, and it was very sobering and very tough. I had left school, I didn’t have my health, and the only work experience I had was at The Black Swan. But I was very determined and also a bit frustrated, so I threw myself into cooking. The amazing thing was that you could get all of the things that you could get through sport. You could win accolades, and you could be acclaimed.”

For the first few years, The Black Swan struggled. Banks worked under head chef Adam Jackson, an ambitious chef who helped guide the restaurant to a Michelin star in 2012 by elevating the restaurant’s standards and tightening the kitchen—a huge surprise. Jackson left the........

© Observer