Chef appeals to Christmas spirit of thieves who stole 2,500 of his pies

An English restaurateur is reeling after a robbery cost him plenty of pies.

On Dec. 2, chef Tommy Banks, who runs Michelin-starred restaurant The Black Swan at Oldstead, as well as a number of other eateries in England, posted on Instagram about how a van holding stock for his luxury pastry business, Tommy’s Pie Shop, was stolen overnight.

It wasn’t the van he was concerned about, but what was inside: 2,500 handmade pies worth £25,000, or about $32,000.

“Good morning, thought I’d fill everybody in on this morning’s dramas, we’ve been robbed,” Banks says at the start of this video.

The chef explains that the van was going to drop off the pies at York Christmas Market on Monday morning when the burglary was discovered by one of his employees.

“It’s kind of sad because it’s a lot of meat and a lot of flour and eggs and a lot of work,” he says. “Like, so much work.”

Banks concludes the video by asking the burglars to donate the pies, suggesting a community center that could benefit from all the food he could no longer sell.

“I know you’re a criminal, but maybe just do something nice, ‘cause it’s Christmas,” he says.

A representative for Tommy’s Pie Shop says the stolen van held a mixture of steak and ale, turkey, ham and cranberry, and butternut squash and sage pies, along with “Tommy’s famous root vegetable mince pies,” adding that there were also custard in the van as well as 100 liters of gravy.

“The staff are obviously really disappointed, it takes us a long time to make our pies, especially that quantity, so that’s a lot of work gone,” they tell TODAY.com. “However, spirits are still high, we’re still trading at York Christmas market and we’re back producing pies as quick as possible.”

Banks’ plight received national attention across the pond: The chef even sat down with BBC Radio 4. “I’m trying to find a bit of humor in it,” he said in the Dec. 3 interview.

Because of the ordeal, Banks has received an outpouring of support, both in his comments section as well as from his own child. His little one heard the news and enlisted friends to “make pies” for her dad to sell.

“Our little Poppy has been busy at nursery restocking the shelves!” Banks posted on Dec. 3. “She thinks ‘these bad guys need to go to Jail’ I think she is right but at least give up the pies so we can give them to a food charity and feed some people a hot meal 🙏🏻.”

Later that same day, Banks shared an update that the van was found and seized by the police — but the pies were destroyed.

“It’s just so much waste,” he said in the video. “It’s just rubbish.”

North Yorkshire Police told the BBC that the refrigerated van was found “abandoned with false number plates” in Middlesbrough, England.

The rep from Tommy’s Pie Shop says they’ve had lots of support from locals as well as other businesses, including a local catering company lending their refrigerated van, as well as offers of meat, pastry and other ingredients.

Banks says he imagines the thieves got more than they bargained for when stealing the van — after all, their robbery has made international news. But he’s choosing to see the silver lining.

“Our pie theft has really captured the imagination of so many people, after all a theft of 2,500 pies is quite unusual,” Banks tells TODAY.com.

“We’re obviously hugely disappointed that so much stock has gone to waste, especially as we really live by a low-waste ethos at my restaurants,” he continues. “However, the support from so many has been really encouraging and we’re working hard to get back up and running.”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com