Tommy Banks is redefining food in a way that reverberates worldwide. With an approach to food that is above all local, Tommy celebrates key ingredients locally grown or foraged, preserved for later or eaten within days (or hours!) of harvest.
The Black Swan is more than just award-winning food - it is about identity and rootedness mixed with creativity and eccentricity. Fervently seasonal, Tommy celebrates summer abundance and autumnal bounty, but he revels in winter's hungry months. Other chefs pay lip service to the seasonal/local mantra, but Tommy embraces it heart, soul, and plate.
Influenced by the rhythms of the land, he renames and redefines the seasons into three growing groups based on garden availability and shares creative recipes, preserving techniques, and ideas on using these 'root' ingredients all year round. Gems of simplicity share pages with more complex recipes. Beautifully photographed throughout the shifting seasons, the images showcase recipes, ingredients, and the landscape from which they hail.