Open kitchens, food photographed in store and eaten straight afterwards, and no attempt to make the product look better than it is. Brian Altriche built a burger chain from one Randburg store on the principle that advertising lets mediocre products survive, and that a business which removes the gap between what it shows and what it serves does not need the advertising.
The commercial logic is stronger than it first appears. Making the product visible is a constraint the business imposes on itself, and constraints of that kind force operational discipline that a closed kitchen allows a brand to avoid.
Transparency is an operating decision, not a marketing one
An open kitchen means every shortcut is visible to a paying customer. Photographing the actual food means the kitchen has to produce that standard every time, not once for a studio shoot. Businesses that adopt this deliberately are choosing to make quality failures immediately expensive, which is the most reliable way of ensuring they get fixed.
Serving a market you actually belong to
Altriche has described the concept as coming from wanting freshly prepared fast food for his daughter’s generation, and from a judgement that a younger market wanted a more personalised experience and hand-made food. Founders who are inside the market they serve read demand shifts earlier than those relying on research, because they notice the change in themselves and the people around them first.
Customers will wait if the reason is visible
Cooking from fresh ingredients takes longer than a fast food operation is supposed to, which looks like a competitive disadvantage on paper. It works because the customer can see why they are waiting. Speed only wins when nothing distinguishes the product; where the difference is visible, a slower service becomes part of the offer rather than a defect in it.
Format mix determines the economics
A business that plans for a particular balance of eat-in and takeaway is really planning its floor space, staffing and equipment around that ratio. When the actual ratio differs from the plan, as it usually does across locations, every one of those decisions needs revisiting per site. Owners who treat the mix as a fixed assumption end up with restaurants sized for a trade pattern they do not have.
Growing a format through franchising
Expanding from one store to a large network in a few years is a franchising outcome rather than an operating one, and it depends on the format being specified tightly enough that an owner in another city produces the same result. Anyone weighing this route should work from the disclosure and format standards published by the Franchise Association of South Africa before signing anything.
Frequently asked questions
Why would a restaurant deliberately show customers its kitchen?
Because it makes every quality shortcut immediately visible to a paying customer, which forces the operational discipline that a closed kitchen lets a business avoid.
Does photographing real food instead of styled food help?
It removes the gap between what the customer expects and what arrives, which is where most complaints in food businesses originate.
Will customers accept slower service for better food?
They will when the reason is visible to them. Where the difference is not visible, speed wins.
Why does the eat-in and takeaway ratio matter so much?
Because floor space, staffing and equipment are all sized around it. A site whose actual mix differs from the plan has been built for trade it does not have.
What makes a food format suitable for franchising?
It has to be specified tightly enough that an owner in another city, with different staff, produces the same result without the founder present.
Further reading
Originally published in June 2017. Updated September 2026 to draw out the operating decisions behind the brand rather than reporting a single interview.
