Village restaurant is named best in the world
The Black Swan, taken over by two teenage brothers, beats Heston’s Fat Duck to the Tripadvisor top spot
BROTHERS who took over a village pub in Yorkshire as teenagers have turned it into the “world’s best-reviewed restaurant” in just over a decade.
The Black Swan in Oldstead, near Thirsk, N Yorks, has been named as the “best restaurant in the world” in an international Tripadvisor poll based on customer reviews. It is the first British restaurant to win the website’s title.
The pub was taken over in 2006 by brothers James and Tommy Banks who were 17 and 18 when their parents stood down from running it. In what has proved to be a winning combination, James heads up the front of house operation while Tommy runs the kitchen.
Tommy previously admitted to The Daily Telegraph: “We had no idea what we were doing, and would just invite our mates round to get drunk.”
But just over a decade later, the brothers, now 27 and 28, have won the title of the UK and world’s best restaurant – beating such renowned establishments as Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat’saisons, which came second in the list, and Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck, which failed to make the top 10.
The Michelin-starred restaurant prides itself on fresh home-grown ingredients, which are a key element of its success. The pub is set in two-and-ahalf acres of land and virtually all of the restaurant’s fruit and vegetables are grown on-site, or on their parents’ farm down the road.
Tripadvisor said the winner was selected based on the millions of reviews and opinions collected on the site over a 12-month period.
The judges said: “Dishes such as squid dressed in horseradish juice, Texel lamb with turnip and mint and cake made from chicory root and blackcurrant promise a combination of amazing fresh produce straight from the garden.”
The young chef ’s achievements come despite being struck down with ulcerative colitis, a chronic condition that saw him undergo major surgery three times and spend the best part of a year in and out of hospital.
Tommy said: “I was very low, but determined to make something of myself, so I decided to work all hours to make the restaurant a success.”
That involved building The Black Swan up to be a “special-occasion, destination place”, simply because “no one would come all the way out here just for a nice pub”.
In the early days the food it served, with Tommy as sous-chef, was classic and French-inspired, winning the Black Swan a Michelin star. But the young assistant was then faced with the challenge of retaining the star after the head chef left to open his own restaurant.
He succeeded and, at 24, became what he described as “the youngest Michelin-star chef by accident. Totally by accident.”
Reacting to the latest accolade, he said: “It’s a huge honour to win this award, but what makes it really special is that it’s been awarded because of feedback from our customers.”