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Kelowna Restaurants


James Kendal

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There's this post by Jamie in the middle of a thread on the Okanagan, where he gives the lowdown on a number of restaurants in Kelowna. (well, some are not technically in Kelowna... but a few are :biggrin: )

And another thread on the Okanagan - if you scroll through it, you will find more recommendations in Kelowna.

Also.... you may wish to peruse Daddy-A's Excellent Okanagan Adventure thread.... I seem to recall some mention of a meal at what was once Vintropolis but is now.... something else. Scroll away and you will find it.

Last but not least.... there is a short blurb in the latest issue of CityFood (couldn't find specifics on line however) about a relatively new restaurant in Kelowna called The Yellow House Restaurant started by the folks who used to run (or might still, actually :blink: ) The Beecher Street Cafe in Crescent Beech.

Oh... and one other thing... it is the Fall Wine Festival so you may encounter more activity than usual for a Monday in Kelowna. (But you probably already knew that :biggrin: )

Edited by appreciator (log)

sarah

Always take a good look at what you're about to eat. It's not so important to know what it is, but it's critical to know what it was. --Unknown

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James,

Greetings from Treetops, our glorious little cottage high above Okanagan Lake. It's a beautiful day--the temperature spikes (close to freezing at night, probably well over 20 degrees today in the sunshine) are extraordinary.

Right now I'm looking at the new vines planting next door at Tantulus (the former Pinot Reach). They ripped out a lot of old vines over the summer but replaced them, I'm afraid, too late--some are barely six inches tall and will struggle when we get a few nights of hard frost. But that seems distant; in an hour it will be warm enough to sit by the pool. You've gotta love these Indigenous Persons' Summers.

Yvonne and I had a lovely lunch yesterday at Quali's Gate. There are special paired Wine Festival menus on at lunch and dinner right now. Yesterday chef Judith Knight prepared a simple arugula salad over a pissaladiere topped with local goat's cheese and mushrooms, paired with the the 2001 Limited Release pinot noir.

The second course was a bouillabaisse with a decent rouille served with the 2003 Family Reserve chardonnay. For dessert we ate caramelized-apple bread pudding with vanilla ice cream and whiskey sauce, paired with their 2004 Optimus. Delicious, and winemaker Grant Stanley, who returned from New Zealand with his charming wife Annabel three vintages ago, sat in with us. He gave a lot of play-by-play on the harvest, which is in full swing right now and looking good--you can hear the fruit heaving on the stalks, eager to get indoors.

QG has changed its harvesting method, especially because of the warm picking conditions. Instead of each picker working a bin, they have as many as 10 pickers filling one. Those are then rushed in to be cooled and crushed--all to prevent oxidation.

Reservations are tough for the next 10 days during Wine Festival (a lot of the restaurants are matched with wineries for tasting dinners), but certainly Bouchons is good, as is the next door Waterfront Wine Bar (the chef is ex-Fresco sous Mark Filatow); he serves a light menu of small plates and some excellent wines by the glass.

Try La Boulangerie in rapidly gentrifying Pandosy Village (just south of KLO) for lunch--excellent soups and homemade gravadlax. We're building Abbott House between West and Groves on Abbott Street; the village is quickly becoming Kits-by-the-Lake.

The big news in Kelowna this week was the opening of the new Cactus Club. It seems a more credible validation than the adjacent East Side Mario's, and eegads, the new BMW franchise opens next month.

Like all their new rooms, it's beautifully designed and the service is smackdown. The opening team (drawn from Lower Mainland stores) was crack. And Julian Bond, their new development chef, was cooking on the line. What can I say, other than we had a very good dinner: from a bandara salad to ribs and apple pie a la mode, and what Yvonne called the best steak she'd had since breakfast.

Edited by jamiemaw (log)

from the thinly veneered desk of:

Jamie Maw

Food Editor

Vancouver magazine

www.vancouvermagazine.com

Foodblog: In the Belly of the Feast - Eating BC

"Profumo profondo della mia carne"

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Thanks Steve, ironically we are guests of Mission Hill on this trip and we have one free night.

I just jumped on the weigh scale and my fighting weight is off by about 10 pounds so I think I will just stick to the wine on that night :wacko:

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