The Tommy Banks Group opens the Abbey Inn

The Tommy Banks Group has opened The Abbey Inn, a pub with rooms in Byland Abbey, North Yorkshire.

The Abbey Inn was built by monks in 1845 as a farmhouse, but by 1853 it was converted into a public house.

The group converted the 19th-Century inn into a country pub, which features 70 covers and three luxury rooms located down the road from the family’s Michelin-starred restaurant, The BlackSwan.

Dining tables at the pub have been crafted in the workshops on the farm at Oldstead and the pub’s sign is carved by Tommy’s father, Tom Banks.

Even the food at The Abbey Inn are produced, grown and reared on the family’s farm in Oldstead.

The pub’s three bedroom design is inspired by the history and heritage of the inn and features roll-top baths.

The rooms will be available from 31 July.

Spearheading the food, alongside Tommy Banks, is head chef Charlie Smith, who has worked for the group for over five years across The Black Swan, Roots, York and Made In Oldstead.

The pub serves reimagined classics with its signature Oldstead style, using its own meat, reared a mere mile away from The Abbey Inn.

The menu includes bar snacks and starters such as Pork Pie with Oldstead Piccalilli, Pork fat fries with fermented ketchup and BBQ beetroot sauce, Smoked baby beetroot and Glazed Herdwick lamb rib with yoghurt flatbread and fermented carrots to name but a few.

The Byland burger and A vegetarian Hen of the Woods burger are available as mains.

The pub’s Sunday roast include options of Pork with pig cheek toad in the hole and Salt-Aged Dexter Beef with braised oxtail toad in the hole – both served with seasonal vegetables, duck fat, roast potatoes, brassica cheese and gravy.

The dessert menu features carrot and chicory tiramisu andThe Abbey Inn soft serves made from Jersey cow’s milk and locally foraged ingredients.

The Abbey Inn offers the family’s expertly curated premium canned wines, Banks Brothers, a concise, 30-bin wine list showcasing producers from lesser known regions and pub’s cocktails, led by James Banks, highlight produce grown or foraged in and around Oldstead like the Byland Spritz featuring Oldstead ‘Campari’, Rhubarb Schnapps and Marigold Distillate and the Abbey Inn Summer Cup which features a homemade bramble liqueur.

Tommy Banks said: “Washing pots in this building was one of my very first jobs when I was a kid, so to now open my own pub in it is a dream. It’s a beautiful venue, with so much history in its four walls.

“One of my main goals in opening a third place is to continue my mission for championing hyper-local, sustainable produce. We’ve been rearing our own cattle, sheep and pigs for a while now, and The Abbey Inn allows us to get one stop further in our journey to complete carcass balance and true nose-to-tail dining.”