Best Okanagan 2013

GOLD: WATERFRONT RESTAURANT & WINE BAR

Silver: Bouchons Bistro | Bronze: RauDZ Regional Table | Honourable Mentions: Local, Theo’s

Judges called Waterfront (Gold) a “godsend to the Okanagan, no question.” Chef/sommelier Mark Filatow is dialled in to all the best producers and local deals, and he’s built a wine library unmatched in the area, a tremendous asset in his quest to select the right companion to every daube, braise, and ragout coming out of his remarkably consistent kitchen.

Bouchons (Silver), the work of onetime Café de Paris owners Richard Toussaint and Martine Lefèbvre­, seduced judges with “the Valley’s only serious French room-with comprehensive wines to go along.”

RauDZ (Bronze) won points for the locavore zeal of chef Rod Butters (Wickaninnish Inn, Fresco) and for a certain more-is-more élan: the RJB is a sandwich of beef tenderloin with butter-poached crab, cured bacon, and duck-fat mayo on brioche.

Honourable Mentions to Local for solid menu selections and an exceptional setting, and to Theo’s (est. 1976), which seamlessly lines up the Theodosakis family’s heritage of Cretan belief in nature, seasons, and the land against the bounty of the Okanagan. 

RETURN TO ALL RESTAURANT AWARDS 2013 RESULTS