After helping to take Eat Out 2007 Restaurant of the Year, Terroir, to new heights, top SA chef Nic van Wyk is leaving after three years to begin a brand new adventure – setting up a group of restaurants at Barnyard Theatres.

Terroir has won numerous awards since opening (booking a table is tricky these days!) and even though it has become a prerequisite for gourmands visiting the area the ambience is relaxed and informal.

Nic has mixed emotions about leaving Terroir. Says Nic: ‘It is a sad day when one has to leave such a wonderful place full of people that have become good friends. Terroir has such magic’.

The focus now is on overseeing the creation of bistro-style restaurants at all of the Barnyard Theatre venues in SA. Quite a big feat!

Nic says he ‘sleeps easier at night knowing there is a good team behind me’.

Nic will spend around six months at each new eatery, directing the whole process from setting up the kitchen, nurturing the staff and creating the menu which will be tapas heavy.

The first one to open will be the Willowbridge eatery on May 25, called the Barnyard Brasserie and Tapas bar seating 100 with another 25-seater tapas bar.

The idea is to make good food which is more accessible to the average South African. Nic feels there are the top restaurants in SA and then the big franchises with nothing much inbetween – no well-crafted food for the average budget. So the idea is to bridge this gap.

The next Barnyard Theatre eateries to open will be Irene in Pretoria and then Joburg branches and Umhlanga.

Good luck Nic!

www.barnyardtheatres.co.za