The LivingRoom

A Passion for Provenance

No more load shedding: from the 15th of October 2023, Summerhill will be off-grid!

Opening Times

Menu

Wine List

A Story About Food

An award-winning dining experience

Situated within Summerhill Guest Estate in Kwa-Zulu Natal, The LivingRoom is South Africa’s best restaurant. Named as the 2022 Eat Out Woolworths Restaurant of the Year at a glittering awards ceremony in November 2022, it is where chef Johannes Richter showcases the province’s culinary diversity from garden to plate, expressed through his fine French training and passion for Asian techniques.

Family owned-and-run, the team deliver a fine-dining experience combining exceptional food with premium wines and top-notch hospitality.

The Food

Ingredients are carefully sourced & menu is created by Johannes Richter, Chef & Husband.

The multi-course menu – available as a five or seven-courses – is driven by a hyper-seasonal and endemic approach to cooking. All ingredients are sourced locally, with a strong focus on sustainability and ethical farming practices. As the team only work with the freshest produce, there is a conscious and deliberate effort to create their menu with as low an impact as possible. As such a range of ancient fermentation and preservation techniques are used to stretch produce and by-products across seasons – minimising wastage and adding diversity and depth of flavour across the menu.

A proud and fervent champion of KwaZulu-Natal produce, Chef Johannes combines the ingredients of the province with his French training and love for Japanese cuisine to create a unique and exceptional culinary experience. The menu is constantly in flux and undergoes complete changes every two months in line with seasonality and the produce from their own kitchen gardens and that which is carefully sourced local suppliers.

Sustainability and seasonality are at the core of all they do at The LivingRoom. This ethos extends to the team and staff, many of whom come from the local community and are given the skills and training needed to meet The LivingRoom standard.

The Wine

The extensive wine programme overseen by Johanna Richter offers a well-considered and comprehensive list of premium South African wines.

The menu is available with a pairing option, which sees a choice selection of these wines expertly paired with Chef Johannes’s dishes. Additionally, Johanna offers a well-thought-through non-alcoholic pairing containing in-house syrups, kombucha’s, juices, and tonics made in-house.

We are very spoilt to live in a city with diversity being portrayed in many different ways and expressions.
This is something The LivingRoom’s philosophy embraces and reflects in wine, food, music & art.

As our main focus lies on sustainability and local produce, we want to support like-mindedness.
A lot of love and passion flows into what we do, therefore we focus on smaller wine makers and producers, that have the same passion and share our thoughts on sustainability or the ecological footprint they leave.

Whether you are a traditional or experimental wine drinker, we are confident you will find something suitable to your liking.

The LivingRoom Opening Times 2023

Open Tuesday to Saturday from 18:30, last order 19:30
Saturday lunch from 12:30, last order 13:30

Tuesday to Saturday for dinner, Saturday for lunch

Closed: Sunday & Monday

Closed: 23 – 27 July

Tuesday to Saturday dinner   |   Saturday lunch

Our a la carte bistro menu will be available for all Summerhill Guest Estate houseguests as usual.

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