restaurant

To set the stage- or perhaps I should say - to set the table - for the "supping" aspect of our Destination Travel: Kelowna I arranged to meet Chef Rod Butters at his restaurant, RauDZ, on Water Street, on the first morning of our visit. An icy wind was blowing through the streets of downtown Kelowna and by the time we arrived at the door of the restaurant we were chilled. Chef Butters invited us in and promptly offered to brew Americanos. We stood at the bar and sipped the coffee and I gradually felt the warmth seeping back into my body.

I was familiar with his culinary biography but curious about a few of his culinary adventures so we began our discussion there. A B.C. native, Chef Butters was born in Port Coquitlam and worked at The Keg during high school. He went to Indiana State on a baseball scholarship and then played in Washington State. He returned to Vancouver to attend culinary school, and then worked at Scaramouche in Toronto, Four Seasons Hotels in Toronto and Vancouver, the opening team at Chateau Whistler among other places.

In 1996 he embarked on an exciting venture as the opening chef and co-manager with Charles McDiarmid, managing owner, for the new Wickaninnish Inn in Tofino on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. Opening that quality of world class hotel and restaurant in the middle of nowhere with the challenges of getting staffing and supplies to the West Coast of the Island, was one of the stand-out experiences of his life. Chef Butters commented that this remarkable achievement was a testament to everyone that worked to make this happen from dishwashers, housekeeping and office staff to management.

I understood what he was saying because the Wickaninnish Inn holds a special place in my heart. In October 1999 my brother and sister-in-law came out from South Africa to visit with my husband, who was quite ill at the time. We wanted to show them something special about British Columbia and we picked Wicknninnish Inn as that special choice. The flight we booked stopped in Victoria and then the small plane flew north for a while along the mountainous spine of the Vancouver Island Range. The image of breaking through the clouds into a V of sunlight just before landing at Tofino,is engraved in my memory.

At the Inn we had a beautiful room looking out onto an inlet with huge waves breaking on the rocks. The second memory I hold from that time is soaking in the hot tub in our room  and observing the sight and sound of the crashing waves and foam spraying from the rocks.The third memory is of savoring the flavours of the wonderful meals we enjoyed over the days that we were there. Our visit to Wickaninnish Inn was all too short, but it is one of the treasured times that comfort me whenever sad thoughts come to mind.

For the first day of  our Kelowna visit I had three pre-arranged meetings and from  what came out of those, I planned to let the rest of the day's activities develop spontaneously. First order of the day was to stop in at the Tourism Kelowna  Visitor's Centre to pick up an information package that Catherine had left for me.

The drive into Kelowna  along Westside Road is both spectacularly beautiful and hair-raising. Round every curve in the road - and there are many curves -  you see vista after vista of stunning mountains and lake.  Sometimes the road drops down so steeply that it  feels as though you are driving into an infinity pool. The hair-raising bit comes from the occasional driver on the road who screams up behind at a speed way over the speed limit and then drives so close on  your tail that a sudden need to brake for a deer or anything else would inevitably mean a collision. And we have seen lots of deer munching away on the side of the  road.

Avoiding the road construction that closed off a section of Ellis Street,  we decided to park on Bernard and walk around to the Info Centre so we could get a feel for where the various places were that we wanted to visit.  At the Info Centre we added a few brochures  to the package of maps and booklets that Laura  handed me, and then meandered along to Water Street where we were to meet  Chef Rod Butters at his restaurant, RauDZ, at 11:30.