Copyright belfastlive
While Ballyhackamore welcomed a fresh restaurant to its strong food and drink line-up earlier this month, the man behind the new spot is a familiar face. In fact, he has opened up shop in a former restaurant unit he helped launch over 12 years ago. Neil Johnston and his wife Sian have recently relocated their popular eatery Luna from Carrickfergus to the busy East Belfast suburb, welcoming customers into the space which used to be Graze - a restaurant Neil co-owned when it first opened. Having always worked in hospitality his entire life, Neil told Belfast Live it is something he is "really passionate about" and wants to share with the people of Belfast. He said: "The Luna concept came from when my wife and I would go to Spain and go to restaurants - we loved their dining culture. "We wanted to try and put on our plate what we'd had and experienced through our travels in Europe and around the world. "We had loads and loads of different ideas and we were really lucky to get involved with Matt, who's our head chef, and he's been with us since day one. He's really great. "I think the idea of fine dining is gone within Northern Ireland, so it's kind of that smart casual atmosphere here in Luna." Sian added: "We wanted to elevate what you get everywhere else - you hear people talking about places that are 'just alright' or the 'service is crap' so we're really, really passionate and focused on the food, the wine, the service and everything. "We're really very fussy about that sort of thing and we have a really good team working here with us." Many might recognise Neil's former restaurant Graze from when a bright orange Jaguar sports car crashed through the front window in 2015 - he has no plans for Luna becoming a 'drive-through', fortunately. Neil said: "I opened Graze with my old business partner. We had both worked in a restaurant in Newtownabbey and we wanted somewhere else for ourselves - at that time, there were probably about 18 restaurants in Ballyhack but there was nothing like we were doing. "We worked and worked and it was very good but then the partnership ran its course, and then I came away from it." Luna came around when Neil was working in other hospitality businesses. When asked by Sian what he wanted for a big birthday, he joked 'a restaurant' and the wheels went into motion. The birthday present first opened to the public in Carrickfergus in summer 2024 and is a neighbourhood bistro that celebrates the "finest local ingredients and innovative flavours". "I think I had that itch that needed to be scratched," Neil explained. "It's something we're passionate about and we looked all around until we found the location in Carrickfergus. "We'd been there for just over 15 months, and we think we both had said from the start we would just use it as a starting point and it was great but then we had issues with rain and flooding. "So when this space [Ballyhackamore] became available, we came back a few times to see it." Sian laughed: "He didn't sleep until he got it." Neil continued: "When we opened the door and we came in with the agent to have a look around, it felt like coming home. "And in my mind, if it feels like coming home, my mother always said if things happen for a reason and I really believe that." He added: "Having been here before, I took the building from four concrete walls, so I know the ins and outs of what works and what doesn't. "When we were doing the relocation from Carrick, we left the shutters open so that people could look in and see the transformation and a lot of people who had been previous customers in Graze were waving in and going 'oh, are you back, we'll definitely come and see you' and that goes a long way for me." Three weeks in, the team are getting used to operating a bigger restaurant than in Carrickfergus and also the addition of a dedicated cocktail bar, but Neil and Sian say they couldn't be more pleased with their new home in Ballyhack. Find out more about Luna and what they offer here For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our What's On newsletter .
