The True Living Commitment

This is not your average restaurant. In True Living, we do our very best to provide visitors with the most authentic Midland Karoo experience possible. This means opening our home – what True Living is to Lani and the women who work here – and allowing guests to experience what we are so privileged to call ‘our way of life’.

It also means sourcing every possible ingredient locally, and being personally involved in the processes that get our finely selected dishes to your table.

The origin and quality of our meat is one of the most important aspects of this vision. Long before words like ‘organic’ and ‘free range’ were used as marketing labels, we were dedicated to this choice of living. All the meats we use and sell at True Living are farmed or hunted or sourced by Lani and her husband, Wentzel, personally. Lani also manages the processing of the venison and lamb on their farm Waterval. Hamburger patties, sausages, lasagne, pies and all other meat products in True Living are made on the farm.

The fat farm chickens sold in True Living are also used in all our chicken dishes. The chickens come from two respected local neighbouring farms.

Wentzel and Lani are also exploring ways to localize the pork products. The wild boar cocktail sausages are currently the only pork product produced by Lani. True Living’s bacon is currently the only meat product that’s not from a local source. Due to the popularity of the product it is still on the menu, but Lani is working on ways for this to soon change. Watch this space…

Lani is a professional artisan baker and she has trained a handful of other bakers. Together they produce all the baked goods on the True Living premises. All pastries, breads, biscuits, roosterkoek, rusks and quiches are specially made in the bakery in the quart yard.

The flour with which all the baked goods are made is from the local South African stone ground plant in Swellendam. The flour is not bleached or processed by electronic mill to ensure a product that contains all natural nutrients and in turn ensures baked produce of impeccable quality.

Apart from the products mentioned above, True Living also sells Cradock’s own ground coffee and personally selected wine from the Cape Winelands. Which is more; Lani has recently started serving food on crockery that she makes herself in her pottery studio on the farm.

In line with the vision to serve the best quality food that contributes to responsible eating and sustainable living, Wentzel and Lani aim not only to grow the True Living brand, but also to help grow the people and other businesses they interact with.

An investment in Cradock, the town’s people and the entire Midlands Karoo, ultimately, means the growth of True Living as well.