There are afternoons that feel like they were designed to be savoured: sun-washed courtyards, slow conversation, bubbles in a chilled glass and music that gently nudges a lunch into an evening. The Greenhouse Restaurant & Bar — part of the Monseca Hospitality Group and the city’s reigning supper-club destination — is opening that door wider. To mark its sixth birthday the Sandton courtyard is launching a dedicated lunch service from 12:00pm, Thursday to Saturday, folding the Shortmarket Club’s celebrated culinary DNA into daytime hospitality and giving Joburg a new, sunlit reason to linger.
What makes the move notable is not merely a menu refresh; it’s a deliberate reimagining of how Johannesburg dines. The Greenhouse has long been known for its nightclub energy and late-night glamour. Now that exact energy is being unspooled at a slower tempo: daytime that reads like an elegant, lived-in living room — rattan pendants, black-and-white tiles and cascading greenery where curved sofas invite conversation that stretches on.
A new chef, a new lunch that sings
At the centre of this evolution is Head Chef Leigh-Anne Knipe, whose résumé reads like a tour of South Africa’s most exacting kitchens — Restaurant Mosaic, Overture, Ethos and, most recently, Proud Mary. Knipe’s brief was clear: translate Shortmarket Club precision and layered flavour into approachable, sunlit dishes built for sharing, sipping and staying.
“What we want is variety for everyone — vegan, vegetarian or meat — but with the same attention to detail,” Knipe says. Her lunch menu weaves playful technique with familiar pleasure: Sumac-grilled chicken thighs with corn cream and grilled peaches, a show-stopping Lobster mac ’n’ cheese with Gruyère and garlic-rosemary-thyme crumbs, rustic pan con tomate on toasted brioche, and the glittering Almond and Blueberry Mess for dessert — meringue shards, almond mousse and blueberry compote. These are dishes that read like comfort and discovery at once.
“We’re delivering top-tier food without the stiffness of white-tablecloth formality,” says Daniel Rismani, Head of Operations. “Great ingredients, refined technique, beautiful presentation — but relaxed, convivial and welcoming.”
A courtyard that moves with the day
By day The Greenhouse courts leisurely lunches, girl-days, relaxed business meetings and easy romance. The drinks list leans into long-pour cocktails — think the playful Henny Pot (Henny VS, Appletiser, elderflower, lemon) and the colourful G Pot (Tanqueray, Blue Curaçao, pink tonic, lemon) — ideal for afternoons that slide into evening.
By night the space becomes Joburg’s first authentic supper club: a 180-seat theatrical dining room where silk-velvet booths, a VIP Butterfly Booth and a rotating roster of DJs spin deep house, hip-hop and uplifting beats. Monseca’s intention is simple: “It’s the same energy, just a slower tempo,” says Luke Dakers, Founder of Monseca Group. “People know Greenhouse for its nights — now they’ll know it for a full experience from noon to midnight.”
Events, bookings and the wider Monseca vision
The Greenhouse welcomes bookings for corporate lunches and private celebrations and promises service from midday on Thursdays through Saturdays, extending “until late.” The restaurant is located at 24 Central, 6 Gwen Lane & Fredman Drive, Sandton. Menus and bookings are available at https://www.greenhousejhb.co.za and https://www.dineplan.com/restaurants/the-greenhouse-johannesburg-. Follow @thegreenhousejhb on Instagram for updates.
The expansion sits inside Monseca Hospitality Group’s broader push to blend design, dining and social energy. Alongside The Greenhouse and Rosebank’s design-led Ocaso, the group has Mira opening in December 2025 and Amazon scheduled for February 2026 at Menlyn Maine, underscoring a strategy that pairs considered interiors with hospitality that moves people.
Why this matters to Joburg
This isn’t just another lunch menu. It’s a cultural nudge: a recognition that cities need places where daytime social life feels as intentional and magnetic as the night. The Greenhouse’s courtship of lunch shifts the city’s social map — offering a space where a lunch can become a memory, where a date can become a ritual, and where a courtyard in Sandton might finally earn its place among the great daytime rooms of global cities.
For diners who prize atmosphere as much as flavour, The Greenhouse x The Shortmarket Club’s daylight revival offers the best of both worlds: the culinary care of a fine restaurant and the welcoming abandon of a room designed for people who like to stay.
