The burgeoning downtown hospitality district forming around the suddenly key intersection of Winnipeg and Westminster just enrolled a new member.
A new member with a new building and a serious commitment to both the city and the immediate neighborhood.
Currently, the parcel of land at 227 Winnipeg St., sandwiched between the Black Antler restaurant and the local Canada Revenue Agency HQ, is a parking lot. But soon enough it’ll house a two-storey business that's as creative as it is picturesque.
Designed by architectural firm MAD Studio and built by Wildstone Construction Group, "Joy Road Bakeshop" will be the latest incarnation of long-time Penticton caterer Joy Road Catering.
But a catering service is just the start. When completed, Joy Road Bakeshop will also feature a walk-in bakery and a retail element where folks can buy upscale treats like marinated meats.
And above it all on the second floor, a chic four-suite bed and breakfast.
Brett Turner is the head chef and owner of Joy Road Catering. With wife Olivia Fobert, he acquired the company, situated on Joy Road in the Upper Carmi area, in early 2019.
But, said Turner, they soon outgrew their new digs.
"We wanted a bigger facility, and a retail outlet," said Turner Tuesday afternoon.
"Our business model was split into three parts. Wedding catering in the summers, our summer winery dinners, and the Penticton Farmer's Market.
"We opened in May and we closed in October, so we had to lay off in the winter and bring people back in the spring. So we wanted to increase stability with our staff and have year-round employment."
The top-floor B&B came about, said Turner, after discussions with his wife, who "has her MBA in international tourism and actually wrote her thesis paper on a boutique lodge like this. And as we talked, we had this idea of a complete hospitality experience."
According to Turner, the purchase of the 227 Winnipeg parcel was somewhat risky.
"We were told the area was contaminated (potential oil contaminants from previous automotive facilities). But we did a lot of environmental assessments and found our property wasn’t contaminated at all. We now have the assessment from the City."
And Turner is thrilled. He loves the neighbourhood and believes in its future, and says he's "happy to be part of it."
Indeed, Turner and Fobert have now committed fully to Penticton and their new operation. Transplants from Vancouver where they ran upscale catering service Cocktails and Canapes, the couple has now sold their interest in that company and their North Vancouver home to fund the enterprise.
"Originally we were going to run both," said Turner, "but the pandemic took a massive toll on both companies so we had to make some decisions with the huge investment in this building. It's now our full-time focus."
At 3200 square feet, the expansive Joy Road Bakeshop ground floor will feature a 2000-square-foot kitchen, production and catering facility in the rear, a 1200-square-foot open-concept bakeshop and retail area in the front, 18-foot ceilings, and roll-up garage doors leading to a patio.
The "bakeshop" component, said Turner, is a combination café and bakery.
"We'll have a brand new state of the art bread oven," said Turner. "And our baking program will be robust. We'll have sourdough and baguettes and four to six different types of bread loaves.
"We're quite known for our lemon tarts already, and our cinnamon buns and chocolate tarts. We'll be doing drip coffee and pour-over coffee too."
The retail section will focus on a comparatively new Joy Road offering called "Daily Provisions."
"We did this last summer as well," said Turner. "We have a number of things we'll call our Daily Provisions. We recently did marinated sous-vide octopus. We'll have marinated chicken or steaks, cheeses we make, spice blends, a couple of different types of olive oil where you can fill your own, and much more."
Upstairs will be four guest suites -- one at 300 square feet, two at 600 square feet, and one 900-square-foot monster with a stairway to its own rooftop patio. All will feature chef's kitchens with curated spice racks and ample assortments of recipe books.
"Hopefully people will come and stay there, cruise the Farmer's Market and come back and make something," said Turner.
Breakfasts are of course provided, and Turner hopes to fill the winter months with guests who'd like to try their hands at cooking classes.
"We want to attract more tourism here in the winter with people coming and maybe having a few hours a day learning how to make sourdough or pickling things or making pasta."
If all goes according to plan, the first shovel will go in the ground in the first week of January. From there, it'll be a complex construction process due in no small part to the area's soil composition. Translation: Lots of pylons.
Turner tentatively expects to open the ground floor in early fall 2021. The B&B will likely debut by the end of the year.
For more information, go to the Joy Road website and click the tab labeled "The Bakeshop."
