Havelock North restaurant Black Barn Bistro will boast plenty of new features when it reopens on April 14, more than a year on from a devastating fire which tore through the award-winning establishment.

Perhaps the most exciting addition is a wood fire grill right in the middle of a new kitchen.

Executive chef Regnar Christensen said the kitchen had been completely redone and was looking fantastic.

“One of the most exciting parts is we have a big wood fire grill that has gone in.

Black Barn Bistro restaurant manager Santiago Burgos and executive chef Regnar Christensen inside the redesigned restaurant. Photo / Warren Buckland

“Just about every dish on the menu will have some form of [ingredient] that has been cooked over the fire.

“It’s a far more exciting way to cook over live embers. It takes a lot of skill.”

He said he was super excited about the reopening on April 14, and just to be back cooking again for the public.

The restaurant was extensively damaged in a large fire on February 8 last year which started in a clothes dryer.

The fire at Black Barn Bistro on February 8, 2022. Photo / Warren Buckland

The restaurant was closed at the time of the fire and no-one was injured. Most of the interior was damaged and had to be removed.

Co-owner Kim Thorp said it had been a long journey to get the restaurant reopened.

“We are really excited because it has gone from such a low with the fire, when we were all speechless and devastated, to not only getting it back to where it was, but it is honestly significantly different.”

He said interior designer Brigit Christie had done great work in helping them rethink the design.

Black Barn Bistro is almost ready to reopen after a fire more than a year ago. Photo / Warren Buckland

He said the new kitchen was looking extraordinary including the rather “ironic” addition of a wood fire grill.