Third in an occasional blog series called This Is the East, featuring hidden spots on Johannesburg’s East Rand.
Cremalat, like many great food places in the East Rand (a.k.a Ekurhuleni), is hidden behind the gates of a bland industrial complex, in a location that’s hard to describe. The place itself is hard to describe as well.
In this case the complex is the Greehills Industrial Estate, in a suburb called Elandsfontein, which is kind of close to Bedfordview but also close to Germiston. Cremalat is kind of a shop and kind of a distributor and kind of a restaurant. It’s hard to visit Cremalat if you have a nine-to-five job and don’t live in the East Rand, because it’s only open during office hours and for a few hours on Saturday.
Despite all these challenges, Cremalat is worth making time for. Because pasta. And because cheese.
Cremalat started out as two Italian-South-Africans — a husband and a wife — selling Italian cheese in a little stall at the Bryanston Organic Market. Eventually they expanded the business and opened a shop in Kensington. Then they expanded again and opened the current store in Greenhill Industrial Estate. Eventually the owners added a small restaurant, La Cucina, which serves an innovative Italian-style menu. Read the whole story on Cremalat’s website.
Lunch at Cremalat
I first went to Cremalat — the name is a combination of the words “crema”, Italian for cream, and “latte”, Italian for milk — years ago, when I was doing some research on hidden places in the East Rand. The work was for another client so I couldn’t blog about it at the time.
Then I forgot about Cremalat until recently, when my friend Fiver called me a in a frenzy of excitement about the amazing panettone (Italian Christmas cake) she’d found there.
We went for lunch last week and I couldn’t believe how nice Cremalat looked and how good the food was.
I was feeling broke (Janu-worry and all that) so I didn’t buy anything in the shop. But Fiver bought half-price panettone and I admired all the beautiful baked goods and cheese. Most of Cremalat’s products are imported from Italy but they also make their own cheeses (some of which are award-winning) and meats.
Don’t miss Cremalat the next time you find yourself near the Greenhill Industrial Estate.
Oh wow! This is totally my kinda spot! I’ve heard of Cremalat before, I had no idea that it was SO cool! Plan to check it out soon, thanks Heather!
Oh yes, right up your alley! You’ll love it 🙂
It is a lovely place. I used to buy their cheese when they were still in Kensington and wow – what a difference!! Lovely spot. Highly recommend.
Yep, there’s no replacement for good cheese.
Looks like they’ve had a bit of a makeover, do they still have an outdoor area for the restaurant area? Love the variety of cheese and pastas that they have.
Yeah I also thought it seemed different but couldn’t remember how. Yes there are still some outdoor tables.
:-)) because Cheese 🙂
Hahaha, yes! ????????????
You had me at cheese.
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Ha! This is the first time I read of ‘Janu-worry’ loved the term! That pasta looks yummy!
Hahaha. Janu-worry has become a popular term in South Africa under the current economic climate 🙂