“My wife always said that if I opened a fourth eatery it would have to be called ‘Divorce’ or ‘The Singles Club’,” laughs Chef James Diack. “Instead, I’ve decided to call it Il Contadino, which means ‘the farmer’ in Italian and really embodies the spirit of our season-focused, farm-to-table style.”

Nestled in the heart of Parktown North, Diack's latest offering to the Joburg foodie scene explores the Spanish, Italian and French countryside and owes its claim to fame to the Diack family farm, Brightside in Magaliesburg.  Dishes are fresh, simple and rustic: roast chicken, slow-cooked pork, charcuterie boards, salads, home-made pasta and pizza (one of the best blue cheese topped pizza pies we've ever tasted) from the in-house wood-fired oven – all using seasonal ingredients sourced from Brighstide.

Here's Il Contadino in 30 seconds or less from the man himself:

By Shawn Greyling