Michelin-Starred Chef Expresses Dismay Over Theft of 2,500 Pies

A Michelin-starred chef has issued an appeal following the theft of a van carrying 2,500 pies intended for a Christmas market. Tommy Banks, owner of award-winning restaurants in North Yorkshire, reported that “nearly a tonne” of pies, with a total value of £25,000, were stolen. The theft occurred after the van was driven from Barker Business Park in Melmerby on Sunday night. The refrigerated vehicle was scheduled to deliver the pies to Mr. Banks’ pop-up pie stall at York Christmas Market, but employees discovered its disappearance on Monday morning. Speaking to the BBC, he stated, “The team are very gutted because it’s days and days of work gone.” He added, “Vans get replaced on insurance but all that work and all those ingredients, just nicked.” The chef indicated that the stolen items, comprising steak and ale pies, turkey and cranberry pies, and butternut squash pies, represented a week’s worth of stock for Tommy’s Pie Shop. He further commented, “The thing that I’m gutted about especially is, what are they going to do with them, are they going to dump them somewhere?” concluding, “It’s just a real shame.” North Yorkshire Police confirmed they had received a report of the theft and urged anyone with relevant information to contact them. He remarked, “The guys are absolutely scrambling but I think we have enough to get through today and we’re just working like crazy to make more,” adding, “Hopefully we’ll be able to stock ourselves back up again.” Mr. Banks posted a video message on social media, making an appeal for the thieves to “do the right thing” by donating the pies to a community centre, thereby preventing thousands of meals from being wasted. Mr. Banks stated, “I know they’ve gone now and we obviously aren’t going to recover them to sell them.” He continued, “I just think that’s 2,500 people we could feed and there’s a lot of people who could do with a hot meal right now. If we can find them, they can have them.”