Oliver Eats changes town’s food scene
Oliver Eats chef Derek Uhlemann has a delicious philosophy: “Connecting people through food creates better community.” A long-time chef – most recently at Covert Farms – Uhlemann is a polymath of culinary ideas and ideals. Through his tenure, he has been an advocate for sustainability and supporting local, and has been a longtime outreach co-ordinator for Salmon Safe, an eco-certification program that educates on keeping our waterways and salmon habitat healthy. He is also well versed in the art of feeding people.
Oliver Eats occupies the middle of three spaces in a 3,000-square-foot facility on Station Street, an area fast becoming a hub for burgeoning businesses, including the new Coast Hotel.
With a backdrop of vintage collectibles as décor, the space is a welcoming ground zero of delectable fun. Find a well-stocked pantry of provisions from nitrate-free deli meats, orchard apple juice, produce, local eggs and organic chickens to the best B.C. cheeses, gluten-free pastas and housemade granola, representing a “best-of” sampling from the Okanagan and B.C.
The doors open early for expertly crafted espresso drinks fueled by locally roasted Wolf Tree beans, and baked goods including pain au chocolat, croissants, muffins and cookies.
The day unfolds with a hearty daily soup, salads and sandwiches, including those stuffed with Carolina-style pulled pork, BLTs or free-range chicken with pesto, on brioche or croissants.
The daily “dashaway” is a ready-made meal option including anything from pasta casseroles to roast potatoes and ham to fully loaded take-n-bake pizzas and apple crisps for a hot-out-of-the-oven dessert.
The thoughtfully sourced eats of the deli – local, seasonal, organic and sustainable – goes beyond just a restaurant/general store model.
Oliver Eats is sandwiched between two separate workspaces: first, a commercial kitchen or culinary workshop for budding entrepreneurs to work on a product line or catering gig, test run an idea or for chefs to hold cooking classes. The second holds walk-in coolers for culinary events and a boardroom for visiting chefs, or other makers, to brainstorm on ideas.
Memberships for the commercial kitchen are only $30 a month, an affordable opportunity to help small food businesses grow, and is a way, Uhlemann feels, to expand the local food economy and improve food security.
There are two members so far, one of them the Vagabond food truck that parks in the driveway three times a week serving up savoury seductions.
In only the second week of opening, we stood in line with area winery managers and vineyard workers for chef Graeme Uhlemann’s – yes, Derek’s brother – Nashville buttermilk crispy fried chicken on brioche with lettuce and pickled jalapenos, housemade corn dogs over fries, pork belly steam buns and Vietnamese salad rolls.
Derek’s community building is further evident in the nod to the nearby Mount Baldy ski resort with “Baldy balls,” a spherical energy blast for the slopes, consisting of oats, peanut butter, sesame, peanuts and chocolate chips dipped in dark chocolate.
Uhelmann’s business model is about the big picture, a gathering together of likeminded people, a chance for them to build a business, a meeting place to build community and to sit down for something nourishing and delicious. Oliver eats well indeed. With fork and pen in hand, and a passion for culinary adventure, Shelora Sheldan, writer, cook and traveller, goes in search of the delectable.