Welcome to Week 49 of my #Gauteng52 challenge, for which I visit and blog about a new place in Gauteng Province every week for 52 straight weeks. This week I visit the Culinary Table in Lanseria.

It’s a lesser known fact that Johannesburg has not one, but two major airports. O.R. Tambo International Airport, the huge one everyone knows about, is about 30 kilometers east of central Joburg, give or take.

I’ve always considered Lanseria International Airport, the smaller of the two, to be much further away. Hence I never went there. But a few months ago, when I accidentally booked a flight out of Lanseria instead of O.R. Tambo, I realized Lanseria is virtually the exact same distance (33 km) from my house. It’s also a considerably more pleasant drive.

Best of all, I’ve just discovered there’s an amazing restaurant virtually next door to Lanseria airport: The Culinary Table.

The kitchen garden at the Culinary Table. The restaurant is in the background.

The Culinary Table has an interesting story. The restaurant is attached to the Culinary Equipment Company, a large warehouse and showroom just off Route 512. Chef Daniela Gutstadt’s family owns the Culinary Equipment Company, and Daniela initially started out doing culinary demonstrations in the center of the Culinary Equipment showroom. These demonstrations became so popular that an entire restaurant was born from them. Read more here.

Today, the Culinary Table is not only a restaurant but also a produce shop, a deli, a coffee shop, a bakery, and a butchery. Everything sold at the Culinary Table is either produced onsite in the adjoining garden/farm, or purchased directly from other (mostly local) producers.

Lovely lettuces growing behind the Culinary Table.

The chicken coop.

The bakery.

Lunch in Lanseria

I don’t feel it’s necessary to go into detail about my lunch at the Culinary Table. Given the background above, it should come as no surprise the food was fantastic. I had the roasted pumpkin and burrata salad for R78 ($5.75). My friend had the chicken and beetroot salad for R84 ($6.20).

Chicken and beetroot salad.

Pumpkin and burrata salad. Incidentally, I am not always a fan of roasted pumpkin. But this version was great.

I was pleasantly surprised by how affordable the produce is at the Culinary Table. If I’d had more time, I could have done a full grocery shop there for about the same amount I’d spend at my local fruit and veg shop (possibly even less). I bought a box of cherry tomatoes for R14 and a box of blackberries for the same price. I also got two packets of very good quality cheese for less than R40 each. Cheese of a similar quantity and quality would cost about R50 or R60 at Woolworths.

Limes for sale at the very reasonable price of R15 (just over $1) for four. I don’t know why I didn’t buy any.

The Culinary Table is highly recommended. Give it a try after your next flight into Lanseria.

The Culinary Table is in the Lanseria Centre at the corner of Ashenti Road and Pelindaba Road (Route 512). Open for breakfast and lunch only: Opening hours are here. Call +27-11-701-2200.

Read all of my #Gauteng52 posts and check out the interactive #Gauteng52 map.