Foodies in New York were the first to encounter this term, through the writings of restaurant critic Adam Platt in New York magazine. A play on haute cuisine, the traditional “high cookery” of France, it describes a restaurant whose house style emphasises the quality of the ingredients and where they come from to a greater extent than their preparation. Fresh, good-quality ingredients, often organic and sourced locally according to season, are cooked well and served simply. The idea behind it is farm cooking at its best, hence barnyard. But it’s often at a premium price at the New York eateries first identified with the tag and which have since been described as “pretentiously unpretentious”. Haute barnyard has spread beyond New ...