Chef
Tommy Banks
Head Chef & Proprietor, The Black Swan at Oldstead; Co-Proprietor, Roots York
- Discipline
- Chef
- Based in
- Oldstead, United Kingdom
Known for
- Britain's youngest Michelin-starred chef at age 24 (2013)
- Owner of two Michelin-starred restaurants: The Black Swan at Oldstead and Roots in York
- Zero-food-miles culinary philosophy using farm-grown and foraged ingredients
- Innovative preservation and fermentation techniques including black garlic and slow-cooked black apples
i. Biography
Tommy Banks (born 3 June 1989) is a British Michelin-starred chef and restaurateur from North Yorkshire who became Britain's youngest Michelin-starred chef at age 24 in 2013 when he took over as head chef of The Black Swan at Oldstead, his parents' pub-turned-destination restaurant. He operates two Michelin-starred establishments—The Black Swan at Oldstead and Roots in York (opened 2018)—alongside The Abbey Inn at Byland and a food box business called Made In Oldstead, all built on a philosophy of local sourcing, foraging, and seasonal cooking rooted in his family's five-generation farming heritage.
Profile updated April 2026
