Nathan Sno has made a name for himself in restaurants across London, Australia and the US but he is coming home to Belfast to make his dreams of opening his own business a reality.
The Northern Irish chef is preparing to open a new food concept on Belfast’s busy Lisburn Road, which he hopes will “disrupt the industry” and bring a fresh new feel to healthy fast food in the city.
VINE, opening on May 8, was born from Nathan’s own relationship with food and learning its value in his life. The restaurant’s aim is to become a new standard for everyday eating – rooted in health, flavour and culture.
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Speaking to Belfast Live, Nathan shared the realities of preparing to open a hospitality business in the city, how his passion for food shaped his life and his excitement to share his VINE concept with the people of Northern Ireland.
“VINE is built around solving a problem where most people want to eat well and feel great, but the current options force you to compromise between health, taste, and convenience,” he explained.
“Fast food became convenient but low quality. Healthy food became niche and inconvenient. VINE sits in the middle to redefine how it’s served and how it tastes.
“It was really born from my own experience. I used to have a very bad relationship with food, Most of my life I was overweight and never felt good about my body.”
Nathan explained that despite training and working hard on himself, his lack of understanding about the diet aspect of his life kept him back from his goals without even realising.
He continued: “Around 2019, I realised if I don’t feel good, I can’t do good. So I started taking both my physical and mental health seriously and when I did, my life changed drastically in every area and a lot of that came down to what I was putting in my body and my environment.
“Not in any sort of extreme or restrictive way, but with understanding and intention.
“Beyond the food, I started to realise how much your environment shapes you. The people you’re around, the spaces you spend time in, it all impacts how you think, how you feel, how you live.
“So while VINE is rooted in food it’s equally about creating an environment where the right people end up in the same room. People who care about how they live, how they feel, and how they show up.”
Before there was VINE or a chef working in Michelin Star establishments, there was a little boy who fell in love with food while watching his mum in the kitchen.
“Food was always a big part of our house. I lived with my mum she worked a lot but she cooked properly every day, no matter what,” Nathan added.
“In my family, food wasn’t just something we ate, it was also how we showed care and spent time together.
“I started working in a kitchen when I was 11 – I just wanted to work and make my own way do something for myself so after pleading for a long time, my mum gave in and got me a job as a dishwasher and I worked my way up from there.
“Since that I was hooked. I was never academic, a little rebellious and rough around the edges, but food was one thing I could do that made people happy.”
His passion for food took him around the globe and to some of the “most exciting” kitchens in the world, becoming a head chef at a restaurant in Australia when he was only 20 years old, before stepping back to enter the world of Michelin Star dining.
Nathan continued: “I reached sous chef at 1 Michelin star in Mayfair and over about 3 years, I completed stages across more than 20 Michelin-starred restaurants around the world, including The French Laundry, Eleven Madison Park, Frantzén and Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester.
“Those environments taught me standards at a level I never knew existed, it was invigorating – I learnt discipline under immense pressure but more importantly, I learnt about respect for ingredients, process and the craft of cooking.
“What I took from it wasn’t just how to cook at a high level it was a way of working and thinking and a level of care and detail that most don’t consider, and that is exciting when you get to share it with others.”
Six years ago, he stepped away from the kitchens to found Food Story Media, a global creative business built around the idea that food is more than a product. His company has worked internationally across hospitality and global brands, shaping how food is experienced and understood beyond the plate.
But it was while he was working in the high-end restaurants that got the wheels turning in his head into what would eventually become the concept behind VINE – “why does the highest standard exist at the top end, but disappear in what people eat every day?”
VINE’s menu is built around bowls where customers can choose from signature bowls or build your own – choosing high-quality proteins, sides and sauces.
Nathan explained that it is “wholesome and flavour-driven food that makes you feel good” and will go beyond the idea of a typical salad bar.
“It’s simple on the surface but everything is made from scratch,” he added. “We don’t buy anything in and take no shortcuts. Every ingredient is there for a reason.
“The goal is that you can eat this food every day and feel good doing it.
“There’s a strong food scene here, but when it comes to premium, health-focused food, there’s still a gap. We’re here to raise that standard.”
With just over two weeks until VINE opens on the Lisburn Road, Nathan has been documenting the reality of starting a restaurant online with his followers.
“It’s been tough. It’s two steps forward, one step back most days.
“There’s a lot that people don’t see – long days, constant problem solving, things going wrong and having to fix them quickly.
“People see the end result, but not what it takes to get there. It’s not glamorous, it’s relentless. But that’s what it takes to build something that actually matters,” he explained.
“I feel more focused than I ever have. There’s pressure, but it’s the kind of pressure that comes from caring deeply and stepping into something that I’ve trained for my whole life.
“We open on the 8th of May, and it feels very real now. My mum actually messaged me the other day and reminded me that I’d been talking about opening a restaurant since I was 10 years old.
“After all the adventure and travels around the world, it feels like I’ve come back to what I was always meant to do.”
Looking ahead to opening, he said that he thinks customers will get what VINE is about from the minute they walk through the door – food, energy, people and culture.
He concluded: “VINE is for people who live with intent and care about how they show up in their life. It won’t be for everyone but for the people it is for, it will make complete sense.
“Our mission is to make living well the standard, not the exception. So this is just the beginning.”
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