BRAAI & FIRE
Private Braai Chef Cape Town — Restaurant Craft, Open Fire
A gourmet braai at your villa, cooked over real wood coals by a professional chef. Live-fire theatre, plated sides, full service and cleanup. Wood only — never gas.
Fixed itemised quote before you pay a deposit · Reply within 1 hour, 08:00–20:00 SAST.
A private braai chef service brings a professional chef, real wood fire and restaurant-grade produce to your villa or home. The chef builds and manages the coals, cooks over live fire, plates the sides, serves the table and leaves the braai area spotless — you host, we burn the wood. from R650 pp per person · Min 6 guests / R5,500 min invoice.
A braai, run like a restaurant service
A private braai chef service brings a professional chef, real wood fire and restaurant-grade produce to your villa or home. The chef builds and manages the coals, cooks over live fire, plates the sides, serves the table and leaves the braai area spotless — you host, we burn the wood.
The shopping happens on the morning of your event. A-grade lamb, snoek when it is in season, licensed kreef when the gazetted season allows, and produce from the same Cape Town suppliers our fine-dining menus use. Nothing arrives frozen, nothing is an afterthought.
The menu consult happens on WhatsApp within one business day of your enquiry. Dietary requirements — vegetarian grids, halaal-friendly protocols, gluten-free — are settled before we shop, not at the fire. Group sizes run from six guests up to about forty; above that, the spit braai event format is the better tool.
Wood, not gas — the fire manifesto
Kameeldoring and rooikrans coals. Two hours to readiness. There are no shortcuts, and we take none. Gas grills do not appear at a myCHEF braai — the smoke is the seasoning, and dry, seasoned hardwood is the only way to get it right.
On the grid: lamb chops with rendered fat and proper char, snoek basted with apricot glaze until it glistens, boerewors spiced with coriander and clove done slowly, and braai broodjies — cheese, tomato and onion sealed in toasted bread — passed around while the coals settle.
At the table: plated sides, salads built that afternoon, and family-style abundance served on your villa terrace at dusk. The fire is the show; the plate is the proof.
Pap and sous, chakalaka and charred corn appear where the menu calls for them — the staples of the South African grid, cooked with the same care as the centrepiece. If your table has never eaten a proper braai, this is the correct first one; if you grew up on it, this is the version you were trying to make.
The gourmet braai menu, in three tiers
Every braai starts from the same fire discipline; the tiers differ in produce, pacing and theatre. Minimum six guests, with a minimum invoice that the card below states plainly.
Portions are Cape portions — generous. Leftovers are packed, labelled and left in your fridge.
- 01The Gourmet Braai — three meats (lamb chops, boerewors, chicken or linefish), four sides, salads, braai broodjies
- 02The Premium Braai — adds a tomahawk centrepiece or licensed kreef in season; sommelier pairing option
- 03The Whole-Lamb Spit Centrepiece — a whole lamb turning over coals; the theatre piece for tables of fifteen and up
- 04The Vegetarian Grid — whole spiced cauliflower, braai broodjies, charred corn and stone fruit; never an apology course
Packages, with from-prices published
The gourmet braai carries a per-person from-price with a published minimum. The whole-lamb spit is priced per event. A hosted wine pairing from small Cape producers attaches per person.
Your fixed, itemised quote arrives before any deposit — food, fire, staff and travel as separate lines. VAT treatment is stated on the quote, and festive multipliers (public holidays 1.5×; 25 and 31 December and 1 January 2×) are published on the pricing page, not discovered on the invoice.
Gourmet private braai
fromR650pp
Min 6 guests / R5,500 min invoice
Spit braai event package
fromR5 500–8 500per event
Sommelier wine pairing add-on
fromR450–650pp
The full braai rate card
Upgrades are simple: a waiter to run the table, a bartender for a proper bar, or the spit centrepiece. Staffing carries a four-hour minimum. The same numbers appear on our pricing page — one canonical rate card, everywhere.
| Service | From |
|---|---|
| Gourmet private braaiMin 6 guests / R5,500 min invoice | fromR650per person |
| Spit braai event package | fromR5 500–8 500per event |
| Waiter4-hour minimum | fromR195per hour |
| Bartender4-hour minimum | fromR225per hour |
Verified October 2026 · Festive 1.5×–2× · Prices include VAT where stated.
Wind, rain, load-shedding — planned for
The Cape south-easter does not care about your booking, and neither does the rain. We do. Covered braai setups, grids positioned on the sheltered side of the terrace, and generator-ready kit are standard planning — not paid extras.
The forecast call happens with you the day before. If conditions genuinely close the option of fire, the fallback menu is agreed in advance, and our published cancellation tiers apply if you would rather move the date.
Included, and quoted separately
The honesty table — both columns, always.
Included
- menu consult, morning shopping, wood and fire management, cooking, plating and table service
- braai equipment where the villa has none, plus full cleanup of kitchen and braai area
Quoted separately
- groceries at cost with receipts, wine and pairing, rentals, and waiters or bartenders
- Zone 2–3 travel and festive multipliers — both published on the pricing page
National Braai Day, Ke Dezemba and the diary
24 September — Heritage Day — doubles as National Braai Day, and it is the single busiest fire date in the country. If your villa week covers it, book the chef when you book the flights.
December into early January is super-peak: the same demand curve that fills Atlantic Seaboard villas fills our calendar. Shoulder months — March, April, October, November — are the missed window: same weather, easier dates, better availability.
We cover all of Cape Town and the Winelands. Constantia gardens, Camps Bay terraces, Hout Bay plots and Stellenbosch estates all take a fire differently — wind off the Atlantic, valley stillness, mountain shade — and the setup is planned for your exact address in the consult.
In writing, not in vibes — read the full booking protection terms.
Questions, answered.
Anything else? One WhatsApp message is enough — reply within 1 hour, 08:00–20:00 sast.
Related services
Tell us the date, the guests and the place.
We handle everything else — menu, shopping, cooking, service, cleanup. Guaranteed.
Replacement-or-refund · Fixed itemised quote · Published cancellation tiers