GLIMPSE | INTERVIEW
A WALK ON THE ‘BRIGHTSIDE’ STEVE, THE JOBURG FOODIE, SPENT A MORNING WITH CHEF JAMES DIACK AT HIS FAMILY’S BRIGHTSIDE FARM TALKING SEASONALITY, PROVENANCE AND HAD A RUN IN WITH ONE OR TWO PESKY PIGS
We arrive at the farm, a sprawling wonderland of fruit trees, vegetable gardens and animal pens, and, after moseying through the gardens, we step into the stand-alone kitchen at the heart of the farm. We are greeted by James’ mother, Janet, whose loving hands tend to, and nurture,
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t’s a chilly winter morning and we’re on our way to Magaliesburg to visit Brightside Farm. In essence, it’s the pantry that stocks James Diack’s three restaurants: Coobs, The National and The Federal. As a pioneer of provenance in South Africa’s food scene, he has constantly been
everything around us. Currently, she’s standing at the stove finishing off batches of freshly made halloumi and is about to start on the ricotta. Soon, she’ll be charging around the farm chasing down a rather large boar that escaped its pen and dared to venture into her vegetable garden. Such is farm life and, as Janet
upping the ante and now proudly boasts menus of which 95 percent of ingredients are sourced from the family farm. Taking things up a notch, he has also created a seasonality calendar which aims to educate consumers about the importance of eating seasonally and how much better the produce is for you, both in flavour and for your health.
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