The Greenroom Restaurant and The View Winery

101 - 1360 Ellis Street

(Library Parkade),

Kelowna

Ph: 250-869-0193

For the Okanagan  Spring Wine Festival, two of Kelowna's favorite boutique venues joined together to pair fine food and wine in a three course prix fixé dinner menu. We had supper at the Greenroom restaurant, where chef Scott Nystrom offered an interesting choice of two appetizers, three main courses and two dessert dishes on the special menu.

Each of the three entrees was paired with a wine from The View Winery, an establishment so new that it does not yet have a tasting room open,  but  whose Pinotage and Gewürtztraminer  were both finalists in the 2010 Wine Festival Best of Varietal  Competition.

By continuing our practice of sharing dishes, we could taste both the "Opening Acts",  both the "Final Curtains" and two of the three entrees. We started with Dukka (a savoury Ethiopian dry spice mixture)  with naan and olive oil for dipping.

The second starter was three hummus varieties (pesto, garlic and sundried tomato) served with herbed flatbread.  My favorite was the garlic hummus - Amanda loved the tomato version.

The Cherry Chipotle boneless beef rib entree, served with greens and potato skins was paired with The View 2008 Pinotage. The barbecue sauce was great with a rich smoky flavour. 

Our second entree, for which the suggested pairing was The View 2009 Distraction Rosé, was the Roasted Golden beet  salad served with chicken slices, gala apple slices, and goat cheese on greens.

The first dessert was chocolate: three piles of dark, milk and white Bernard Callebaut cholce chunks served with Elephant Island Framboise, a rich raspberry wine. 

The second dessert was a creamy rich New York Cheesecake with  an attractive pattern of raspberry and chocolate sauce.

Both were so delicious that I did not even give a thought to what the scale will read when I get back to Vancouver next week.

During our meal we had the opportunity to chat to Jennifer Molgat of The View Winery and Vineyard. She was offering tastings of the three wines, the Pinotage, the Rosé and the Gewürtztraminer to the restaurant patrons and  took a few minutes to tell us about the history of The View.

The vineyard property which is only minutes away from where we were dining has been in her family for 5 generations. Originally planted with apple orchards,  parts of the property were converted to grape growing in 2007. Although the grapes at first were sold to another wine maker, winemaker Bernard Schirrmeister were is now making the three wines under the View label.

Future plans include a Riesling wine next year and  coming soon, an Ehrenfelser.  Saddened by the sight of devastated apple orchards around the Okanagan Valley, and excited by the quality of wines Schirrmeister has produced, Jennifer 's hope is that at The View they will be able to transform their land  and make it a viable property again. Their success in the current competition suggests they are on the right track.

The Greenroom Restaurant is co-owned by Nathan Favel and Randy Leslie of the Kelowna Actors Studio, just across the road from the Kelowna Library.  At the far end of the room from the kitchen sits a grand piano, and the restaurant features live entertainment on Friday and Saturday evenings. The restaurant capacity is almost doubled during the summer when the patio is open. It provides the catering for the dinner theatres held at the Actors Studio. It seems to be an excellent arrangement all around.

We spent some time with Randy and Nathan earler in the afternoon to learn about their theatrical work and the history of the Actors Studio. Watch for the link to the interview  - coming soon.