In December 2023, Welsh chef Nathan Davies announced he would be stepping down as head chef at SY23, the Michelin-starred restaurant in Aberystwyth he launched in 2019. Within days, he was flooded with offers.

This was hardly surprising, given what he'd achieved. The restaurant won a Michelin star in 2022 after only 11 months of trading, and it was also named by Michelin as the Opening of the Year. This was during a successful run by Davies, who also represented Wales on the BBC's Great British Menu. He had previously worked under Stephen Terry at The Hardwick in Abergavenny, and as head chef under Gareth Ward at the two-Michelin-starred Ynyshir in Ceredigion.

The offers he received ranged from running a small dining room on the Isle of Skye to heading up a large hotel restaurant in the heart of London. "Our initial thoughts were to stay in Wales," says Davies, who was born in Wolverhampton but moved to Wales aged six. His wife Hollie, who was operations manager at SY23, comes from mid-Wales. Their sons Beau, 10, and Kai, six, speak Welsh as their first language. "We never entertained the idea of moving away." Earlier this year, however, Davies relocated his family to Guernsey in order to bet everything on a new restaurant called Vraic.

When he was first approached about opening a "destination restaurant" on Guernsey by an investor and long-time resident, "there wasn't an instant pull", he admits. The family knew the neighbouring island of Jersey from having visited friends. But Guernsey was an unknown quantity. They checked out the local restaurant scene, which is small and fairly traditional (nothing on a par with the Basque-inspired tasting menus Davies specialised in at SY23). Nonetheless, they were encouraged: "There is a real French vibe to eating out," says Davies. "People go out a couple of times a week and have a lot of boozy lunches. They have disposable income and want to enjoy it."

Davies was also impressed by the local produce from island-based growers, fishermen and harvesters, "an untapped and undisturbed food scene" that he knew he could draw on to create something unique. The varieties of seaweed were particularly intriguing. "Bladderwrack has these gel-filled bladders that have a nutty taste with almost a gherkin texture to the skin," he says of one.

We do a lot of fishing and foraging

What clinched it was finding the dream venue: a former beach café on the north shore with spectacular views out to sea. "It's one of our favourite parts of the island," says Davies from the terrace of Vraic (which means seaweed in Guernésiais). "That is Ladies Bay. This is Chouet Bay. It's a big swimming and dog-walking beach. The sunsets are wonderful. If you're creating a destination restaurant, there has to be a reason to go."

A day after the official opening in July, I flew in to try the 10- to 12-course tasting menu (from £145), which champions local and Welsh produce with Japanese and Korean seasonings and fire-led cooking. After a seaweed Martini that tasted like it had been sloshed with kelp water (deliciously dirty), highlights included a hot and sour seaweed broth that burst with umami; lobster tail with sea lettuce, dulce and plankton that held its myriad subtle flavours in balance in each mouthful; and a smoky-sweet plate of asado pork with cherry, charcoal and shiso. The desserts were equally good: the lemon meringue was singed with charcoal, strawberries and cream were reimagined with house-cultured soured cream and pickled elderflower - and every meal should end with salted chocolate and burnt butter fudge as melt-in-the-mouth as this.

"Our biggest doubt was always the kids," says Davies. "If it didn't work for them, we couldn't have done it." "But they've been really excited," says Hollie, who is also operations manager at Vraic. "[We] miss the hills, the open spaces, the forests. But there are other things here. One of our sons has started sailing." "We do a lot of fishing and foraging," says Davies. "The island is very welcoming. There's a sense of community here like Wales."

"This is a leap of faith," he adds. "Nobody is doing anything like this on Guernsey, wanting to be one of the top restaurants in the UK. But nobody was doing that in Aberystwyth either. When we saw this location, we knew we could do wonderful things here. Then we followed the ethos: if you build it, they will come."