Sunrise Chip ’n Ranch (Johnny’s Rotis)

The best way to eat at Johnny’s Rotis is over the bonnet of a car.

I arrived at Sunrise Chip ’n Ranch in Overport in the middle of the day. Better known as Johnny’s Rotis, it was a place I’d visited many times before, but never in daylight. My first visit was back in my DJing days, after finishing at Origin at three in the morning. At that hour, I was hungry and ready to go home, with one very necessary stop along the way. Like plenty of people in Durban, I knew Johnny’s through the late-night frenzy, soaking up bad decisions with something delicious before calling it a night.

This time, the current owners had invited me to spend some proper time there. Varsha Birjanund showed me around, and later I sat down with her brother, Deepak, inside the offices behind the kitchen. I’d come to eat, obviously, but I also wanted to hear how their family had kept the place going for so long. I’d enjoyed the results of their work for years without knowing much about the people making it happen. With the brother and sister taking me behind the scenes, I finally had the chance to ask how this machine operated.

I ordered the famous kebab roti, and when it arrived, it was already sliced in half and wrapped in paper. I was shown how to eat it the Johnny’s way: pick up one half, tear the paper down as you go, and keep eating. The bonnet of a car did the job of a table. From the first bite, I got that unmistakable Durban kick, with the heat building as I ate but never compromising the flavour. It was rich and properly filling, and naturally I wanted to know what they were putting into it. Deepak was willing to tell me that the family’s masala used 22 spices. Getting him to name them wasn’t on the cards. The recipe was a secret, and they intended to keep it that way.

As we talked, Deepak explained that Johnny Naidoo had started the roti business in the 1960s near the bottom of Sparks and Brickfield roads. According to the family, he moved it three times before retiring and selling it to Deepak’s father, Manikchand “Baboo” Birjanund. Deepak’s grandfather had already built Sunrise as a fruit-and-vegetable business, and when Baboo bought Johnny’s, he brought it into Sunrise Chip ’n Ranch. Deepak was now the third generation working in the business, with a fourth coming up behind him.

We also spoke about the tragic loss of their brother, Akash Birjanund. Deepak, the family’s surviving son, was working alongside Varsha to keep the restaurant going. They both spoke fondly of Akash, explaining that his untimely passing had been incredibly difficult for them all. Keeping the business successful was a way of honouring his legacy.

“If I take the night shift, my sister takes the day,” Deepak told me. I thought back to that first visit after Origin. I knew how tired I’d been after finishing at 3am, and I’d been able to eat and leave. For whoever was working at Johnny’s, there were still hungry people arriving, followed by the handover to the person working the day shift. Hearing how Deepak and Varsha divided those hours made it easier to understand the sacrifice involved. Keeping the place going meant organising their lives around being there, year after year.

Deepak also told me that his grandfather used to take boxes of fruit to people’s homes. The family had been feeding the community long before my generation started coming for late-night rotis. As he spoke, I thought about the stories people tell of leaving Florida Road, arriving here at three in the morning, saying “cheese” and having a chip-and-cheese parcel brought out to them. I knew that version of Johnny’s well. It was good to finally hear about the years of work that had gone into making it possible.

Before I left, we spoke about Joburg. The family wanted to open a branch in the City of Gold, and Deepak explained what they’d learnt from opening in Cape Town. Durban customers wanted the food hot and punchy; in Cape Town, they had eased off the heat to suit local palates. His approach was to keep the character of the food while paying attention to the people eating it. As a Joburg resident, I was very happy to hear we were in their plans.

After all those late-night visits, I was glad I’d come back during the day. I’d finally met Varsha and Deepak and heard what running Johnny’s had required of their family over the years. I’ll happily go back at 3am, but I’d recommend giving yourself time for a daytime visit, too. If you’ve never been, or it’s been too long, go and get yourself a Johnny’s roti. You deserve one.