Chef Tommy Banks and family are opening a restaurant in York
Chef Tommy Banks and family will launch Roots in the autumn. The site will offer “casual and playful” sharing dishes, with the same focus on quality as The Black Swan.
Banks told Restaurant magazine last year that the family were keen to open a site in their home city of York with a more “accessible” price and location than the rural Black Swan - which was named the best restaurant in the world by TripAdvisor in 2017.
An announcement confirming the opening of Roots says: “The team from The Black Swan…look forward to opening the doors as they grow from their roots on the North York Moors and head to this northern city for a new venture.”
The Banks family took over The Black Swan at Oldstead in 2006 when it was their local pub. Tommy heads up the kitchen and his brother James runs front-of-house, while their parents are involved in the business on a daily basis.
The restaurant won a Michelin star in 2011.
"The reason [The Black Swan] has survived over the past 10 years is that the four of us take the burden of running the business," Banks told Restaurant last year.
Further details of Roots will be announced in due course.
