The Interesting Story Behind Linden's Ritual Café

2Summers | 12 November 2018
johannesburg food art restaurants

I got invited to review Ritual Café in Linden. I was looking forward to it. I love Linden, I love eating out, and I’d been meaning to try Ritual forever anyway. Great excuse for a date night with nice-guy-Kevin.

Dinner at Ritual Café

Before I went to Ritual I already knew it was a neighborhood bistro with an unpretentious menu (written on a big chalkboard above the kitchen), featuring lots of vegetarian options and also plenty of meat.

I went in expecting to enjoy my dinner at Ritual, and I did. The restaurant has such a friendly, relaxed atmosphere and the food is simple and innovative at the same time. Nice-guy-Kevin and I had a great night and we can’t wait to go back.

Ritual Cafe in Linden
Ritual Café, on the corner of 7th Street and 4th Avenue in Linden.
Menu at Ritual Cafe
A closer look at Ritual’s interior with its giant chalkboard menu.
Fillet of sole with rice and veggies
My meal: Fillet of sole with rice and veggies.
Oxtail stew at Ritual Cafe
Nice-guy-Kevin’s meal: Oxtail stew. We also had a delicious brisket spring roll starter and fig ice cream for dessert.

But during the dinner, I realized Ritual’s story is about more than food. The decorative plates on the walls provided a hint.

Plates on the wall at Ritual Cafe
Handmade ceramic plates on the wall at Ritual.

In additional to being a restauranteur, Ritual owner Julia Kunstler is also a ceramicist and has a pottery studio in Bertrams, near the Joburg CBD.

I love good restaurants, I love art studios in gritty Jozi suburbs, and I love the idea of writing about both in the same blog post. So I decided to pay a visit to Julia K Ceramics.

Julia’s Ceramics

Julia’s studio is in a beautiful old industrial building on Frere Road in Bertrams (not far from the much more well-known arts hub, Victoria Yards). Julia actually owns the building, which has a great view of the Joburg skyline, and used to live on the top floor. Today the building is occupied by several small, commercial businesses (dressmakers, photographers, etc.) and Julia K Ceramics on the ground floor.

Julia in her ceramics studio
Julia in her studio.

Julia and her staff make ceramics for big commercial companies, like game lodges and wineries, but also for smaller clients and retail shops. Similar to the food at Ritual, Julia’s ceramics are simple and pretty and innovative all at once.

Blue and white dishes from Julia K Ceramics
Simple blue and white.
Penguin mug
Penguin mug.
Gold-painted giraffes
Gold-painted giraffes.
Bird on salt shaker
Bird-painting in progress.
Ceramic bunnies
Ceramic bunnies waiting to be painted.

Good food and ceramic bunnies: the perfect blogging recipe. Check out Ritual for a hearty South African meal and Julia K Ceramics for for pretty, hand-crafted pottery.

Ritual Café is at 32 7th Street, Linden. Find its opening hours on Facebook. Ritual doesn’t have a liquor license but customers are welcome to BYOB. (Tonic, Joburg’s best gin bar, is a couple of doors down.)

Julia K Ceramics is at 33 Frere Road, Bertrams.

Ritual outside
My dinner at Ritual was complimentary. Opinions expressed are mine.