Tommy Banks is much more than a chef these days; add to the mix farmer, forager, chief pickler, podcaster, festival curator and ice-cream man. His latest venture is The Abbey Inn, where we met him for lunch.
We’ve all heard of the term ‘chief cook and bottle-washer' - someone who spins plates and has a finger in the (artisan) pie of every aspect of an organisation.
The moniker fits Tommy Banks well. Chief cook for sure, and though he might not be physically bottle washing these days, you get the impression he’d be there in a crisis, getting stuck in, bottle washing and beyond.
Within the Banks’ empire with its clutch of Michelin stars and culinary accolades (at The Black Swan Oldstead a star and a green sustainability star, and a star at Roots, York), there’s also the ‘at home’ Made in Oldstead brand. He runs the Edrich restaurant at Lords during cricket internationals and will have catered for the Wimbledon champions’ banquet by the time you read this – as well as being in the final throes of planning his food festival at Lords in September.
Then there’s the small matter of opening the Abbey Inn in Byland. It’s where we meet Tommy on a stunning summer’s day. Once you've parked up you really have to take a moment to savour the view. English Heritage's Byland Abbey is over the road from the aptly named Abbey Inn.
The pub is where a teenage Tommy Banks started life in a professional kitchen. He was the pot washer, but not the chief one in those days.
He and his family have taken over the Abbey Inn as somewhere they can come in and eat, rest and enjoy, with head chef Charlie Smith at the helm. He’s worked with Tommy for more than five years across The Black Swan, Roots, York and Made in Oldstead.
For the Banks’ family – mum Anne, dad Tom and brother James, it’s their local, almost on the doorstep, just a hop away from Oldstead; a place they can all take a breather, bring the little ones – Tommy and wife Charlotte are parents to Freddie and Poppy. They can feast on a burger, lick an ice cream or tuck into Sunday lunch celebrating the animals they rear and the trimmings they grow. Sounds like life has come full circle.
‘Washing pots in this building was one of my very first jobs when I was a kid, so to now open my own pub in it is a dream’, admits Tommy.
‘It’s a beautiful venue, with so much history in its four walls. One of my main goals in opening a third place is to continue my mission for championing hyper-local, sustainable produce. We’ve been rearing our own cattle, sheep and pigs for a while now, and the Abbey Inn allows us to get one stop further in our journey to complete carcass balance and true nose-to-tail dining.’
The Abbey Inn is a fine place to spend some time. It’s rustic, hearty and relaxed. There are 70 covers with three luxury rooms. You could imagine the Banks’ pilgrims having something of a gourmet getaway – a tasting menu night at the Black Swan Oldstead, then a chill-out here.
Diners are lured by Tommy because he’s a foodie superstar, albeit a humble one, after TV appearances on the likes of Great British Menu, where he’s now a ‘veteran’ judge.
Family farming heritage has always been at the heart of his cooking – recognising that his USP had to be the produce that surrounded him and its sustainability. There’s as little waste as there can be.
Vegetables are pickled and find their way to ketchup to adorn the magnificent towering Abbey burger for example, and Japanese knotweed jam glazing their own made chipolatas, an example of the hyper-local, sustainably focused ethos for which the Banks Group is renowned.
Prime cuts will be used in the fancy restaurants and the offcuts made into burgers, charcuterie, pork pies and more.
But the skill isn’t confined to the kitchen.
Dining tables have been crafted in the workshops on the farm at Oldstead and the pub’s sign has been hand carved by Tommy’s father, Tom Banks. And at the cocktail end of things, Tommy’s brother James Banks highlights produce grown or foraged in and around Oldstead like the Byland Spritz featuring Oldstead ‘Campari’, rhubarb schnapps and marigold distillate and the Abbey Inn Summer Cup which features a homemade bramble liqueur. The reality is – if it grows within a mile or so of Oldstead, it gets picked, preserved and reinvented for bar or kitchen.
On the menu
There are Tommy’s take on pub classics, specials showcasing their farm’s finest produce, bar snacks, charcuterie plates and probably the perfect ploughman’s.
Delving into the menu for lunch, we ate a starter from the specials menu of the last of the season’s local asparagus with Oldstead egg, cubes of sweet ox tongue, lovage emulsion and Summerfield cheese. Oldstead Dexter tartare with fermented peppers and bone marrow was outstanding; Other starters (£10.50-£14) include smoked baby beetroot, ewe’s curd and ‘rhuboshi’ and Glazed Herdwick lamb rib with yoghurt flatbread and fermented carrots.
I got a gold star from Tommy for choosing a day’s special of woodland-reared T-bone pork chop from the family’s heritage pigs. It was served off the bone, cooked slightly pink and had the most intense flavour – plus a luscious layer of melting fat. Served with fermented mushroom béarnaise, hen of the woods mushrooms and triple cooked chips it was pub food at another level. Another notable special of the day was thornback ray wing with lemon verbena sauce. Other menu pleasers included Hogget rump and halibut cooked over charcoal with yoghurt whey and chamomile sauce, Jersey Royals
Mains (£20-£27) are wholesome and heart and the Byland burger is already at the level of legend. The patty is made up of Dexter chuck brisket and short rib, topped with bacon and chicory jam and served alongside pork fat fries.
The pub’s Sunday Roast include options of pork with pig cheek toad in the hole and salt-aged Dexter beef with braised oxtail toad in the hole - both served with seasonal vegetables, duck fat roast potatoes, brassica cheese and, of course, gravy.
Stay
The pub’s three bedrooms have been sympathetically designed in keeping with the history and the heritage of the inn. Guests can enjoy a relaxing soak in the roll-top baths and wake up to the stunning views of Byland Abbey.
abbeyinnbyland.co.uk
