Five things to expect at The Home of Food festival this summer

The Home of Food has teamed up with Michelin-starred chef and three-time winner of the Great British Menu, Tommy Banks, to bring an incredible line-up of chefs to Lord's. The Yorkshire-based chef runs restaurants The Black Swan at Oldstead, Roots in York (both Michelin-starred) as well as The Edrich at Lord’s and the new opening near York, The Abbey Inn. He definitely knows his onions and has tapped into his vast network of culinary contacts to curate a top-tier line-up.

As you’d hope from a food festival with such mouth-watering credentials, there’s a host of bookable experiences, tastings and banquets. We’re particularly keen on the Sunday lunch from Tommy’s recently opened Yorkshire pub The Abbey Inn, which comes served within the Ground’s gorgeous Grade II-listed Pavilion so you can overlook the outfield as you savour your roasties.

From sit-down formal feasts to pop-up kitchens serving up tasty treats, off the bat there’s something for every kind of food-lover across a vast variety of home-grown and international cuisines. Check out Bentley’s Oyster Bar run by legendary Irish Chef Richard Corrigan, Gareth Ward’s two Michelin-starred Wales-based Ynyshir, Brum fave Opheem’s Aktar Islam and Northcote’s Lisa Goodwin Allen. If you have eyes on the pies then chefs Nokx Majozi and Liam Fauchard-Newman bring their celebrated creations to the festival. The home team is represented by local legends, Panzer’s - who have been serving the St John’s Wood community since 1944 with their New York-style deli, along with an additional roster of cooking talent still to be announced.

Making the most of the historic location, kids can work up an appetite with cricket taster sessions and behind-the-scenes tours of the Ground from expert guides. There’s a free children’s interactive cookery club and if you want to sharpen up your own culinary skills, Tommy’s chef pals will be making special guest appearances to demo their favourite dishes. Prepare to be bowled over (not out).

Based in St John’s Wood, the iconic Lord’s is known affectionately as the Home of Cricket and it’s the first summer in more than 200 years that the Ground is open for a non-sport-related event – since 1814 to be precise. In that time the Ground has hosted some of the most memorable international matches in history, including the Men’s and Women’s ICC Cricket World Cup finals. In 2019 England’s men claimed victory over New Zealand in a dramatic super over, dubbed ‘the greatest cricket match ever played’. This summer it hosts not just one, but two iconic Ashes matches. It’s only fitting therefore that lifelong cricket lover Tommy Banks is uniting his two great passions by bringing The Home of Food to the Home of Cricket. As he says, ‘In the same way that cricket crosses borders, food is a theme celebrated so widely across the world, and we’ve got some fantastic chefs coming for the weekend to showcase their culinary talent.’ Put that way, it makes perfect sense for them to come together this summer.

Catch The Home of Food at Lord’s Cricket Ground on September 9 and 10, 2023. Adult tickets are £35, under 16s are £5 during the early bird window ending July 14, and under 5s go free. Buy tickets here.