Our kitchen

One fire, three people, a lot of patience.

Koperpot opened on Fourth Avenue in 2019 with one idea: cook the way South Africans cook at home on a Sunday, every day of the week.

A cook working through smoke in the kitchen

The people

Who cooks for you

Chef and owner

Ruben Adams

Grew up cooking potjie on Sundays in Bosmont, then spent twelve years in hotel kitchens in Cape Town and London. Koperpot is the restaurant he kept describing to anyone who would listen.

Fire and pots

Daniel Pretorius

Runs the fire from seven in the morning. He can tell how a pot is doing by the sound of the lid.

Front of house and wine

Naledi Mokoena

Looks after the room and the wine list, which leans hard on small South African producers. Ask her for the pour of the week.

A day at the fire

Fifteen hours, one fire.

07:00
Daniel lights the fire with sekelbos and kameeldoring. It takes about an hour to get a proper bed of coals.
09:00
The first pots go on: the day's lead pot, the bean pot, and stock for tomorrow.
11:00
Bread dough proves for the roosterkoek. The malva pudding goes into its own pot at the edge of the fire.
16:00
The grid comes out for chops, boerewors and fish, and the coals are raked flat.
17:30
Doors open. The pots have had eight hours and the room smells of smoke and cinnamon.
22:00
Last plates go out. The fire is banked so there are warm coals for the morning.

How we work

Three things we don't bend on

Nothing rushed

A pot is ready when it is ready. If the oxtail needs another hour, it gets it, and we tell you it is coming.

Close to home

Meat from farms within a day's drive, vegetables from growers around Gauteng, and wine from small South African cellars.

Fire only

No gas line and no microwave. Everything, including your coffee water, is heated over wood and coal.

Come and taste it