Penticton's full-time population is on the upswing. But for the local restaurant biz, which some would argue is built for summer and overbuilt for winter, the cold months remain tough sledding.
Word is that it's been especially difficult this off-season, what with that late August travel ban chasing potential customers away early and rampant inflation jacking the price of just about everything and keeping peeps at home.
But we found a couple of places that are doing all they can to keep the "Dream" alive and keep the "Socialē-izing" going 'til spring.
At The Dream Café on Front Street, they've not only made a big change to their façade, they also brought in a new chef – a dude who's just returned to the Okanagan after years cooking on the international stage.
Meanwhile over at Socialē On Lakeshore (on Lakeshore Drive), it's dome sweet dome on the patio. And if that doesn’t grab you, they have menu and price enticements that might.
We started our jaunt on Front Street, where a very large and very visible old-school theatre-style marquee now sits over the front entrance of the live music venue/eatery The Dream Cafe. It's a bold and informative look that couldn’t contrast more dramatically with the smallish green awning that resided in the same spot for years prior.
"Yeah, it's a brand new marquee," said General Manager Kevin Rose, the public face of the co-op that runs the venue. "We got grant money from Creative BC that enabled us to go ahead, then Jim Minshull, a local builder, designed and built it and then Jafa Signs donated $2500 worth of product to us."
Rose thinks the new signage is a pretty smart addition and it’s hard not to agree.
"Sometimes I’d sit here by the window during the day doing my work and people would come in asking for a cappuccino, thinking we were a coffee shop," said Rose. "So now this marquee presents our businesses as what it is. And I think during the summer it’ll bring in dozens of extras people for every show."
But Rose is even more psyched about TDC's new West Kelowna-born chef and all that he brings to the…ahem…table.
His name is Matt Martin and he's only 27 years old. But he's packed a ton of culinary experience into those 27 years.
Martin's first big gig came at Liquidity Winery in OK Falls, as head chef. He's journeyed the world since, working at Michelin-starred restaurants in Montreal, San Francisco and Copenhagen.
Then he quit cooking.
"I was working 16 hours a day, six days a week and had no time for family," he said. "So I moved back here to be with them. I was living more modestly, but more happily. Relaxing, you know?"
Then GM Rose, a friend from back in the day, offered him a less stressful position at The Dream Café. And four months ago, he accepted.
He's since re-worked The Dream Café menu to exploit his "European techniques" and fine dining training.
We asked Martin to run through a few star dishes and he started with a "sticky coffee pudding that's done with a miso caramel vanilla gelato and charcoal tuiles, which are butter and sugar cookies."
Drooling, we asked him to continue.
"Then we have our marinated chicken wings," he said. "It features an Italian hot dip that usually goes with vegetables but instead we're using it to marinate the wings. It’s olive oil, anchovies, rosemary, parsley, lots of garlic, and it's super tasty."
Martin ended with his braised shortribs, which he said are "braised in red wine and beef stock and lots of aromatics and finished on top of a smoked béarnaise sauce and carrots that are cooked in reduced carrot juice and brown butter."
According to Rose, the addition of Martin coincides with an effort to make the venue more of a foodie destination. Indeed, some nights there'll be no entertainment at all – an entirely different direction for The Dream Café.
"We’ve never had a world-class chef before," he said. "One of our new initiatives is a monthly long-table dinner series. We're partnering with local producers – wineries and breweries – and showcasing what our food program is turning into here and proving we can do standalone dinners."
According to Rose, the venue will continue to offer "15 to 18" shows per month, including a new poetry event in February.
"It's not easy to run a music venue in a small town at any time," he said. "But we’re persevering. Our clientele keeps coming back."
For more info on The Dream Café, turn here.
Nearly a kilometer and a half away at Socialē On Lakeshore, the tapas-style eatery opened in 2022 by Villa Rosa owners Tyler and Nicole Gable, the lakeview patio out front also has a new addition.
It's a transparent geodesic dining dome.
Granted, dining domes are nothing new on a global or even a provincial scale. But this is Penticton we're talking about, and the Socialē dome is likely the only restaurant dome in the city.
The Gables installed it in November and added a space heater, and suddenly customers (the more adventurous anyway) wanted to sit on the patio in the middle of winter.
"Yep, it was my idea," laughed Nicole when asked to identify the mastermind behind it. "We were going to have two of them out there, but we thought we'd see how one works out first.
"And we thought what better place in Penticton to have one of these than out on the lakefront."
The dome handles as many as eight guests, and there is no extra charge.
It’s comfy inside, and it's definitely a blast to essentially dine outside in the winter. There's just something about the absence of walls after being cooped up for months that feels invigorating.
A flap at one end of the dome opens to allow access, though it's a rather short flap that forces folks – including servers, carrying your food and drinks – to crouch a bit when they enter and exit.
But we saw no spills or no grimaces either. We imagine the whole procedure would be quite a bit more dodgy in the busy days of summer, but Tyler tells us it’ll be down long before that.
"We've had the patio fully open in April in the past," he said, "so as soon as the weather turns nice, the dome will be down. So get in while the getting's good."
As a bonus, dome-goers can choose to partake in an optional custom curated dining experience reserved especially for them.
Overall, it's been a successful trial run.
"We haven't advertised it really," said Nicole, "but it's done well for us. Today we have three bookings. For Valentine's Day I imagine it'll be a great thing. It's little by little and word of mouth so far.
"I think we're looking to expand next year with a second dome."
Otherwise, the winter of 2023/24 has been as expected.
"It's been challenging as it always is in the winter time," said Tyler. "But we've been doing it for so long that it’s expected. You basically go in the red for the winter and keep staff employed and keep guests fed for the season."
To further entice those guests, Socialē currently offers perks aside from the dome. Perks like dual happy hours – one from 3 pm to 5 pm and another from 9 to close.
There are food perks too, including a new twist on Cavatappi Al Forno (essentially chicken with pasta) featuring yummy fried chicken rather than grilled and, from Feb 15 to 19, a flight of soups with fresh baked ciabatta.
The venue – like many throughout Penticton – also offers a variety of "events" throughout the winter season. Stuff like a "Rustic Chalk Décor Workshop" on the 6th, a "Charcuterie Board Workshop" on the 27th, and several more in between.
For more info on Socialē On Lakeshore, turn here.
