Whether you're involved in the local food and beverage biz or merely someone who regularly patronizes it, there's a pretty good chance you've heard the name Fergy Ferguson.
A founder and huge part of The Nest & Nectar (now known as The Nest) as it rose to prominence last decade, Ferguson in 2019 went on to establish and then operate the Nautical Dog Café at the Skaha Marina on the Skaha Lake waterfront.
All along she's run a catering business too and found the time to regularly get involved in causes and fundraisers throughout the city such as Penticton Art Gallery's annual soup and chili competitions.
And now, she's on the move once again. All the way across town, in fact.
Later this month, on March 27th, Ferguson and staff will host one final waffle-centric blowout at the Nautical Dog before pulling out of the south end of the city.
A little more than a month later, likely on May 1st, they'll open a new café/bakery at 66 Front Street. It'll be called "honey toast," (yes, with lower-case letters), where Ferguson promises a steady diet of "the crepes and pastries and salads and sandwich-y stuff" that made the Nautical Dog so popular.
According to a honey toast media release Monday, the move is spurred in part by recent changes at the Skaha Marina. Just last month, the City of Penticton announced there's a new organization in charge of operating the facility for the next 25 years.
"The transfer of food and beverage assets," said the press release, "of the retiring marina lease holder to the new lease holder, the Penticton Yacht Club, has proven to be financially prohibitive to operate the current café. To that end we have decided to focus on new possibilities leading into the busy spring and summer seasons in Penticton."
Ferguson told PentictonNow this morning that she enjoyed being in the city's southern reaches.
"I really liked it there," she said. "There are so many young families. And it's so quiet. It was a place where people could come and just…stop for a few minutes."
But she left little doubt her team was psyched for the immediate future.
"We're aware we're moving into the hustle and bustle," she said. "But we're really excited. We're excited about Front Street.
"If it was somewhere on Main Street, I would probably have thought twice about it. But this is such a cute little boutiquey spot on a great street. And we have established relationships with businesses down there."
Ferguson also has an established relationship with the folks leaving 66 Front St. to make way for honey toast. Their names are Lisa Baxter-Burke and John Burke, and for the past five years they ran Front Street Brasserie, an exceptionally highly rated Front Street restaurant.
All three, it would appear, are happy with recent developments. And happy with a friendship that began with a one-eyed crepe.
"Back in the Nest & Nectar day," said Ferguson, "we had a crepe station. And one day I made this little kid a face on his crepe with banana eyes and whipped cream hair and a little smile.
"And this guy, an adult, was standing behind the kid and listening to this, so I asked him if he'd like a face on his crepe too. And he said he did. So I made him a Cyclops crepe."
Several months later, Ferguson was attending a dinner event at Front Street Brasserie when the head chef and owner, John Burke, dropped by the table to say they'd met in the past. He was, he said, the recipient of the Cyclops crepe many months earlier.
"I was so embarrassed," said Ferguson. "I just about crawled under the table and died."
She needn't have been. A connection was made and Ferguson stayed in touch with Burke and wife and restaurant co-owner Lisa Baxter-Burke ever since. That connection proved significant when Burke and Baxter-Burke recently came across a new opportunity of their own.
"With COVID," said Baxter-Burke, "we'd transitioned to more of a provisions and evening dinner operation. And that was going fine, but then we had this amazing opportunity from (Okanagan Falls winery) Blasted Church, where I'd be the 'Experience Manager,' which is a beautiful title for a hospitality manager.
"And then as the Experience Manager it was my first task to find the right person to do the cooking over there. So we had the discussion and I said yes, of course, John is available and would love to take the position."
As a result of all of the above, Front Street Brasserie is now closed for good. The owners are taking most of their equipment to Blasted Church and selling the rest to honey toast.
"We're really excited for Front Street," said Baxter Burke. "With COVID, the energy has just been dragging. But we have nothing but support and love for Fergy. And when all of this so seamlessly happened, we couldn't believe it."
Ferguson, meanwhile, said she's having her very first "tape measure" meeting today at the Front Street address and hasn’t yet had time to perfect plans for the new venue.
"The vision we have is like a Granville Island Market. There'll be some seating inside, and some outside. But mostly counter service. We'll have the crepe machines, there'll be tons of pastry and salads and sandwiches, mostly ready to grab and go."
At Nautical Dog, Ferguson and crew specialized in the breakfast and lunch crowd, closing mid-afternoon. That same general pattern will continue at honey toast, but with a slightly later afternoon close time (4 pm) and likely a short re-opening later in the evening.
"I do have a vision," she said, "of a nighttime wine, coffee and dessert place where people can come. You know, all romantic and twinkly."
"And we'll be open at 8 am for the morning downtown crowd before they get to work."
Ferguson will also be continuing her successful catering business from the new location. And now that she's just a short walk from the art gallery, getting to those soup and chili competitions will be even easier.
"I kicked Brodo's (Brodo Kitchen's) ass last time," she said defiantly Monday, referring to the most recent pre-COVID "Soup Bowls Project" in November 2019.
"And I'm still the reigning champ."
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