THE DUO behind Cardiff's celebrated Hang Fire Smokehouse are opening their first restaurant, choosing Barry's redeveloped Pumphouse as their location.

Samantha Evans and Shauna Guinn, co-owners of The Hang Fire Smokehouse, started the company three years ago with the idea of bringing traditional southern American BBQ to the streets of Wales.

Having been named "Best Street Food" at BBC Radio Four's Food Awards and even writing their own cook book, the Smokehouse team are now branching out and opening their first restaurant. The Hang Fire Southern Kitchen will open in Barry's redeveloped Pumphouse in February 2016.

Samantha Evans, co-owner of Hang Fire Smokehouse, said: “This is the biggest project we’ve taken on yet, and probably the most exciting. We’re head over heels in love with the beautifully restored Pumphouse, it’s already bursting with character."

Co-owner Shauna Guinn said: “The street food and pop-up model only allows us to showcase a small part of what we do.

"That was part of the initial reasons for writing our book, we wanted to show people that we’re more than just pulled pork. Our vision for the Hang Fire Southern Kitchen is to bring together all the things we loved and learned about the food, drink and music of the America south.

“Barbecue will of course be a feature but the restaurant will take folks on a journey from New Orleans to Kansas City and Texas to Tennessee, with a Welsh twist, as we showcase some of the recipes from our cook book.

"We’ll be cooking on natural fuel such as sustainable wood and charcoal and, as always, using as much local produce as possible.”

The informal restaurant will include two floors with the main dining area and craft beer bar upstairs, and a small late night "speak easy" style New Orleans cocktail bar downstairs. Hang Fire Southern Kitchen will be open for brunch, lunch, dinner and take away.

Director of DS Property Developers, Simon Baston, said: “We are really excited to have Hang Fire involved in the Waterfront project. The Pump House is a prominent building in Barry docks as well as one of the area’s few remaining industrial buildings.

"It now has a new lease of life following our sympathetic redevelopment and is once again set to play an important role in the area, this time as the commercial centre of Barry Waterfront.”

Hang Fire Southern Kitchen will open its doors in February 2016 and the debut cook book, Hang Fire Smokehouse: Adventures in American BBQ, will be available from May 2016. For all the latest, visit hangfiresmokehouse.com or on Twitter at hangfirebbq.