DUKAI
My Story
The 40 Knots fish, painted in blue with a yellow spiral eye, above the hand-lettered name

Good Food
Travels Well.

A restaurant
built from the ground up.

In Centurion, Pretoria, we turned an empty space into a place with the spirit of Mozambique: a restaurant for travellers, locals and friends.

  • The Build
  • The Kitchen
  • The People
  • The Food
  • The Stories
Inside 40 Knots: the thatched terrace, tables laid with blue and green napkins, portholes on the wall

Same latitude
better company

From an empty shell to a living restaurant.

  1. The empty shell: bare concrete, timber columns and light through the openings

    1. The space

  2. Two people welding on the floor, sparks flying

    2. The build

  3. The curved timber balustrade taking shape

    3. Taking shape

  4. The bar and portholes, lit for the evening

    4. The details

  5. Tables laid on the terrace, umbrellas and the view beyond

    5. Open for life

More than a restaurant.
It was a way of life.

Explore the story

01

The Beginning

An empty space and a possible dream.

In Centurion, Pretoria, we found an empty shell. Four walls, concrete, dust and possibility.

It wasn't a restaurant yet, but we could already see what it could become. A place with the spirit of Mozambique, built around food, people and a sense of escape.

This is where 40 Knots began.

  1. The empty shell with timber columns and roof beams, light on the floor

    1. The shell

    Raw space. Big potential.

  2. A yellow loader in front of the building on red earth

    2. The site

    Laying the foundations.

  3. Two men laying brick walls inside the shell

    3. Taking shape

    Brick, steel and a vision.

  1. The curved balustrade being fitted along the mezzanine

    4. The curve

    Detail gives character.

  2. The red steel stair and mezzanine under construction

    5. Upstairs

    A new level, a new perspective.

  3. Plastered arches with a ladder, the finishes going in

    6. The details

    Architecture, texture, identity.

A restaurant built by hands, ideas and the ocean.

The finished dining room at 40 Knots: dark timber tables laid for service, woven lamps, portholes on the wall and the terrace beyond

Next

A place
comes to life

From construction becomes creation.
From drawings becomes a gathering place.
From an empty shell becomes 40 Knots.

To come

  • The Build
  • The Kitchen
  • The People
  • The Food
  • The Stories