Van Zyl and his partner Elizabeth Kellett are the new proprietors of The Glazebury, which was sold by Marston’s Brewery last year.
The chef is to oversee a modern British fine dining restaurant while Kellett, who has over 20 years' experience in hospitality, will run the front of house.
The restaurant will offer a tasting menu, and there will also be bar food served alongside beers, ales, wines and 60 different gins.
The building offers a small number of overnight rooms on the second floor.
Van Zyl says the pub was completely refurbished in August/September of last year and tweeted that he was hoping to grow vegetables in its garden.
The South African-born chef started his career in the UK in 1998 with the Hilton Group in Manchester.
He was also chef patron at The Lord Clyde in Kerridge just outside Macclesfield, where he achieved three AA rosettes, and chef patron at The Hanging Gate Inn in Cheshire.
Last September the chef cancelled plans to open a restaurant, Klok, in Stockport citing both legal and financial reasons.
BigHospitality has contacted Van Zyl for further details.