GOOD THINGS HAPPENING IN THE OKANAGAN
Fantastic dining pairs well with wines and vineyards
Some observations after 10 days in the Okanagan Valley.
First, if you need a job you could be working the first day you arrive in the area.
If you have any hospitality or wine experience, you could probably write your own ticket. Accommodations are another story; like Vancouver and Whistler, they are tight and getting tighter.
A new and much welcomed addition to the hotel scene are some sensational rooms at The Penticton Lakeside Resort. The all-wood building that was built in the front parking lot is now open.
The rooms are beautiful, the views north, west, and south are even better, and the balconies, complete with lounge chairs, are roomy.
The casino is gone, the rest of the hotel has been renovated, and the place has a better vibe.
The Okanagan dining scene continues to improve each year, especially at the wineries. Two evenings spent at The Vanilla Pod (Poplar Grove Winery) with chef Bruno Terroso were close to perfection on the patio.
Mussels and clams and a bottle of Poplar Grove 2016 Rosé will get you off to great start, after that you are on your own — but be sure to ask about the house made pasta special for the evening.
Up the road at Hillside Winery and Bistro the upper deck looks out across the lake toward Summerland. Chef Brent Pillon is all about local, and winemaker Kathy Malone is all about the Naramata Bench.
The all-day share plates are perfect for a quick drop in. Look for Roast Chicken Panzanella Salad and accompany that with a bottle of Hillside 2016 Unoaked Pinot Gris before the summer is gone.
Pizza ovens are a vineyard nobrainer. Comforting and almost impossible to screw-up when they come from a stone oven, pizzas make every wine taste better.
You can nosh on warm pizza at Orofino in the Similkameen, Ex Nihilo and The Chase Wines in Lake Country, and JoieFarm on the Naramata Bench.
Speaking of pizza, chef Jeff van Geest and general manger Manny Ferreira are the veteran duo behind Miradoro at Tinhorn Creek, where the pizza is a can’tmiss choice. But the gem here is the locally farmed Arctic char,