South Africa

The Italian Stallion behind a top South African luxury restaurant

Shaun Jacobs • 17 May 2025

Alessandro Khojane, known as the Italian Stallion or Black Stallion, is the mastermind behind the award-winning Gemelli restaurant in Sandton and has begun dipping his toes into South Africa’s rising coffee culture through Manaka Coffee.

Gemelli has become a key fixture of Sandton’s dining scene and has progressively expanded to include the Phirinyane Bar and Pantry by Gemelli.

The restaurant has regularly featured in the Luxe Awards, being a Global Winner in 2022 and winning the 2025 Lifestyle Restaurant of the Year award.

This would have seemed out of reach for the young Khojane, who grew up as the youngest sibling of six in a diplomat’s family that was regularly relocated.

However, it was also this background which inspired Khojane, with the family relocating to Rome, Italy, two years after he was born in Lesotho.

Khojane and his siblings attended the American School of Rome and learnt to speak fluent Italian before they could speak any other language.

With a big family and a diplomat for a dad, the Khojane family regularly hosted and entertained guests. In Italy, this revolved around food, wine and a social dining experience.

As a young child, Khojane also spent much time with chef Paulo Santo, who cooked meals for the family and had spent his life working in Italian kitchens.

Khojane said this ignited his passion for hospitality in an article on the restaurant’s website, saying that he was always keen on helping his parents host their guests.

Another impact of growing up in the heart of Italy was the love of the local cuisine and the relatively relaxed way of life in the southern Mediterranean country.

However, opening an Italian-inspired restaurant was not Khojane’s first dream, with the young man in love with hospitality wanted to bus tables in New York City.

These two inspirations, of Italian cuisine and New York hospitality, would be fused by Khojane to create a luxury restaurant in the southern tip of Africa.

Gemelli is born

Khojane’s career in hospitality may have been inspired by Italy and New York, but it would begin thousands of miles away from those places, in Durban.

Living in the coastal city from 2003 to 2007, he would meet Marco Conte, the owner of the popular Italian restaurant Marco’s.

Khojane has described Marco as a brother and his mother as his own in various interviews, with Luciana Conte teaching the young Alessandro how to cook in an Italian kitchen and reigniting his passion for the cuisine.

After working in the restaurant industry without any formal qualification for a decade, Khojane decided to strike out on his own and pursue his dream of opening his own restaurant.

Khojane got financial backing from his older brother Thabo and Dimension Data founder Jeremy Ord, alongside some other partners.

He credits them with taking a leap of faith and used the funds to acquire a space on Main Road in Bryanston that used to be occupied by a bicycle shop.

His love of Italian cuisine and lifestyle would ensure that Gemelli, meaning twins in Italian, would not be an ordinary high-end restaurant.

Instead, it would specifically cater for the entire family and encourage sharing through generous portions and menu design.

The restaurant was almost an instant success, with it becoming so popular that it could no longer serve daily specials and has now expanded to include Phirinyane Bar.

Gemelli quickly became a piece of Rome and New York in Sandton, with the restaurant’s design being inspired by the classic New York loft apartment and the food by Rome.

The centre of the restaurant is the mighty marble bar that inspires references to classical architecture from Ancient Rome, with the boot of Italy adorning the opposite wall.

Gemelli serves contemporary food rooted in Italian cuisine and way of eating, with dishes offered in family portions to be shared around the table as they would be at home.

While the restaurant is high-end and trendy, it also aims to feel like a home away from home and a place where no one leaves hungry.

More recently, the restaurant has expanded to include the Phirinyane Bar at the same address, which is inspired by Khojane’s father, who lived to enjoy the people around him and share a drink with those he loved.

Khojane still returns to Italy every two years for inspiration and a reminder of how simply Italian food is, with a heavy reliance on high-quality ingredients.