SMOKE: An Interview with the Owners

Congratulations on the well received, long awaited opening of SMOKE. Please tell us more about the concept, idea, and dream?

We are four active owners, Braam Heiberg, Jonathan Angelo, PJ Heiberg and Divan Botha – and having travelled all over the world in the past decade, we always arrive back in SA with the same feeling – “man this is a great place to call home”.  We have travelled to South America and Europe extensively and just realised, we make the best wine in the world and produce the best meat and had to create a destination that celebrates the best our incredible country has to offer.

And that is what SMOKE is all about. We want to celebrate South African excellence in collaboration with our country’s wine makers, distillers and farmers.

99% of SMOKE was locally designed and manufactured, every fitting, chair and table.  We wanted to showcase our country’s incredible craftmanship. This is underpinned by SMOKE’s objective of creating 100 new jobs in a country that sorely needs it.

SMOKE is not just a restaurant – it is a movement of likeminded South African’s coming together and saying we want to tell a different story – one of hope.

Guests can choose their experience at SMOKE – they may want to enjoy the brunch bar serving 12 hour smoked brisket Benedict’s and our country’s best MCC’s and make their way into our open smoke yard with its open fire pits and then end the night in our Capital Bar while Yves, our head mixologist crafts some of his best cocktails. That’s the magic of SMOKE.

 

 

Tell us why Pretoria and why The Village?

We should rather ask – “Why not Pretoria” – we stay in the Capital, we have incredible people with an immense appreciation for design, great food, wine, and drinks – choosing Pretoria for SMOKE was an easy one.

We were also privileged to work with Atterbury, who believed in developing such an incredible site for us – and this speaks to their vision and passion for our country.  Traveling from Joburg to Pretoria for the past five years and visiting other great spots such as Culture Club and Peaches, we simply knew we wanted to join this great community of restaurants. The Village is such a true reflection of the cosmopolitan nature of this city, and we are privileged to also call it home.

Who are the people behind SMOKE, tell us about the owners and how did your paths cross?

We all studied at the University of Johannesburg which became the common link between all of us. Divan and Braam started off as friends and then became colleagues, Braam and PJ started off as brothers and then became colleagues – and Divan was Jonathan’s marketing lecturer – it is a washing machine of connections.

More importantly we are connected by a love for our country and wanting to be part of a better South Africa.

We tend to associate with the dreamers and those looking past the next 18 tough months our country faces. We find zero value in focussing on issues we cannot control and focus 100% on those we can control – it allows us to focus on the future and to spot opportunities.

How can you not be proud of a country that has faced so much adversity but still finds a way to wake up and tackle our problems?  SMOKE’s aim is to change the narrative and to highlight the best our country has to offer – from the music we produce, to our distillers who continue to win double gold awards on brandy, gin and rum, and not to even mention the accolades our wines receive on the international stage.

Who do you see in the nearby future as your regulars, describe them?

Every South African that shares our passion for this country.

Tell us about your dishes and ingredients, methods of cooking, flavours, and type of cuisine?

We call it premium social dining – it is a massive trend internationally where guests want to eat well-prepared food and drinks, in a beautifully designed space without feeling snooty. One table could still have premium steak, matched with twelve-hour smoked ribs, and double-glazed carrots while enjoying a great double brandy and coke – if you know what we mean.

When guests walk in, we want them to be impressed by the craftmanship that went into creating SMOKE while at the same time enjoying a great time with friends.

Our key feature is our open fire cooking spaces, and our cabinet smokers (made here in Pretoria) where we prepare slow smoked meats for hours until they are just perfect. We also celebrate all cultures and provinces across South Africa. Whether this is boegoe from the Eastern Cape, Fynbos from the Western Cape, or our incredible meats from the Northwest and our wood from Limpopo. The menu will be ever changing based on the feedback we get from guests, international trends and the inspiration from our Executive Chef Andree Diamond or Head Mixologist Yves Kadilo.

Your space is beautiful, please tell us more about the interior, furniture, and fittings?

Well, great design comes from great designers. Apart from the amazing work from Atterbury on-site design, our interiors and functional design was done by three inspiring ladies, Nisha van der Hoven  (Hoven Design) Elene Olwagen (DB & Co)  and Melissa Capriati Harrison (DB & Co).

They shared our passion for South African design, and pulled in designers like Pedderson and Lennard and Houtlander to design some of our pieces.

Marika Pretorius, also a local Pretorianer, did our twelve-piece wall installation that celebrates The Capital’s architectural masterpieces.

99% of every piece of furniture and fitting was locally made in South Africa – we are extremely proud of that.

Where can you book, what are your retail hours, do you cater for private functions, do you have a dress-code, and do you have an age restriction?

We wanted to keep SMOKE a place to escape to for adults. We decided a no under 23 policy after 16:00 would work best to do this. This allows parents to come to SMOKE when they want to escape their kids. But families are more than welcome before 16:00 at SMOKE to enjoy the full SMOKE experience. We often hear people say they want places where they can dress up, even if only slightly. So, after 16:00, keep those slops, plakkies and shorts in the cupboard – and come ever so classy.

Bookings are open on our booking platform on Google and Dineplan. We can most definitely cater for private events in select sections of SMOKE.

Tell us more about the upcoming/planned TV series.

Well, this is still hush-hush – so let’s just say great things are coming.

You believe in the power of collaboration – why?

This our best lesson from Covid, was that a business survives in its community and with the great relationships it has with suppliers.

Our list of suppliers is endless, and they are equally part of SMOKE. From Culinary, our equipment suppliers, to Megamaster our fireplace and anything related to fire partners. To KWV, SAB and CBC who jumped to support the second we pitched SMOKE to them.  The list is endless, but we are proud to support nearly 40 other entrepreneurs and nearly 500 families with the opening of SMOKE. This is a call for Corporate South African to support small entrepreneurs like us more and more – we will create the jobs this country needs.