Tommy Banks won his first Michelin star at the age of 24 and owns three restaurants in York and North Yorkshire: Black Swan in Oldstead, Roots in Marygate in York and Abbey Inn in Byland. .
He posted on Instagram on Monday (December 2) that a van with 25,000 pounds of stock in the back had been stolen from outside Ripon and is available for anyone in need. He appealed to the robbers to drop it somewhere.
Mr Banks said in the video that the stock, which included steak and ale, turkey and butternut squash pie, gravy and custard, was intended for a stall at York's Christmas market.
He urged the thieves to drop the pie somewhere, such as a community centre, and said: “I know you're a criminal, but it's Christmas so why not do something nice? You could feed thousands of people with the pie you collect,” he added. If it's stolen, do the right thing. ”
Mr Banks also urged anyone who has been offered a pie by someone other than themselves to report it to police.
The BBC reports that North Yorkshire Police have received reports of the theft and are appealing for anyone with information to contact them.
Banks' video included the following caption: “So @matthewalockwood went to @madeinoldstead this morning to pick up the van and it was stolen.
“They loaded @tommyspieshop stock into a van today, turned it on overnight and headed out.
“I don't think the thieves realized they were stealing 2,500 pies with the van. All the pies are in boxes with my name on them, so it's not easy to sell them. .
“If you're a thief and you're reading this, please drop your pies somewhere so at least you can give them to people who need them and they don't go to waste.”
Mr Banks told the PA news agency: “What made me really sad this morning was that I suddenly thought they were going to realize what was inside and give up the food.
“We're talking about zero waste, and every time we have less than a ton of food that could have gone to waste, we want it to go to people who need it.”
With a week's worth of inventory, the team added: “We're not really concerned about the van as much as we're concerned about the pie.”
The chef said he was planning to make a chicken pie this week and one of his team came up with the name “Bandit Butter Chicken Pie.” He said the situation was “a little bit like Home Alone. It was like the Pie Bandit was stealing at Christmas.” Our pie.”
