The summer sizzle

The village is bursting with new flavours and culinary creations this summer as restaurant owners and chefs put the finishing touches on summer menus. For most, their new menus will highlight dishes they’re known for while bringing in new items. But some are unveiling completely new menus.  

 

Masa’s Bar + Grill

Masa’s Bar + Grill head chef Mitchel Bush has completely revamped the menu keeping only one item from the winter menu. The culinary team has chosen to focus on shareable plates and fresh salads for summer.

“In the winter it was more Asian fusion, I wanted to step away from that, because I find some Asian food can’t be summer friendly. I wanted summer friendly, lots more lighter flavours,” he said.

Creating most of their products in house, Bush said guests can expect to see a European influence with light fresh flavours that build on each other. He said he really likes the new hummus plate and heirloom tomato salad because they’re sharable and is something you can graze on.

“It just to me shouts summer.”

 

Bottoms Bar & Grill

Rolling out nine new items and multiple new cocktails, Bottoms new menu has an Australian influence from chef Connor Birmingham.

“We try and take something you’ve seen before and make it a little more unique,” said owner Nathan Cross.

The new menu features a chorizo burger with a yoghurt sauce, a seared tuna burger with pineapple salsa and a pork belly bowl which Birmingham is excited to share.

“I’m a big fan of that chorizo burger. It’s a little bit different, it’s got that yoghurt on it served like a mayo-based sauce, grilled Spanish onions, and bit of cilantro on there. That’s a good one after a round of golf or mountain biking,” said Birmingham.

Along with their new culinary dishes, the restaurant will debut a summer cocktail list including sorbet mimosas for Sunday brunch, a boozy cherry lemonade and rose sangria.  

“We’re going to go a little heavier on margaritas. I personally am really into the sweet and spicy trend that seems to be going on right now. So we have the jalapeno raspberry margarita, a mango serrano margarita,” said Cross.

Sun Peaks Steakhouse

Now open for the summer months, Sun Peaks Steakhouse will have a condensed menu of longstanding favourites and fresh creations by chef Robbie Beint.

“It’s new to us. We did a trial run two years ago. We’re in our second attempt with the summertime. It’s seeing where the business is and how many people are up here,” he said. “It’s going to be a bit more vibrant being summer. We’re going to have more fresh produce that’s locally sourced.”

Bringing in all B.C.-grown ingredients Beint said the theme of the menu is the same steakhouse products but adding a few more summery items such as a light bruschetta appetizer.

Each meal is made from scratch with Beint utilizing his French background to produce contemporary cuisine.

 

Mantles Restaurant

With a new executive chef Hans Sterli at the helm, Mantles Restaurant is unveiling a brand new menu highlighting locally sourced ingredients. It focuses on fresh seafood like mussels, a seafood salad and cedar planked salmon.

Sterli also included a Kamloops harmony lamb with roasted squash, root vegetables, and Yukon potato. He has also added a terry cherry pepper and wildflower honey glazed lake duck breast. Theduck, sourced from Quebec, is paired with foie gras potato fritters from the same region.

Cahilty Creek Kitchen and Taproom

Cahilty Creek will feature 12 new menu items over their breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus. Co-owner Yolanda Dye said the menu will feature light items for the summer such as eggs florentine in the morning to fresh salads in the evening.

“The menu overall helps cater to vegan and vegetarian and gluten-free options …it just requires us to be a little more creative,” she said.

Looking to create a wow effect with their products Dye added a number of specialty cocktails including adult floats in rootbeer and sour apple cherry cider.

“We’re (also) featuring three brand new cocktails which are our pressed cocktails. They’re in a french press presented to the guest.”

The cocktails include botanicals, fresh herbs grown at the restaurant and fun citrus flavours. New menu items to watch out for include the spinach and blackberry salad, duck and crimini gnocchi, peppercorn burger, and Dye’s personal favourite, the Korean noodle salad.

 

Mountain Tiger

The newest restaurant in the village Mountain Tiger is bringing Chinese and Indian cuisine to the community. Despite focusing on the two cuisines head chef Sudhir D’Souza said the most surprising additions to see the menu has been the inclusion of a donair and shawarma on the menu.

“People knew this was going to be a Chinese place but the shawarma and the donair was a surprise,” he said.

Popular items on the menu include the daily curries which are all made in house but are a step away from traditional restaurant style dishes.

“They’re not restaurant curries they’re homestyle, that’s why we don’t have a big curry menu. We have three that are cooked fresh in the morning and done by the end of the night,” he said.

 

Voyageur Bistro

At the top of the village, Voyageur Bistro is revamping their traditional Canadiana menu to include a few new feature ingredients and some winter favourites.  

“Chief Trader” Diane Larsen stated there’s a good balance on the menu that caters to individual flavour styles from fresh salads, seafood entrees, wild boar and unexpected desserts.

“Our theme has always been from scratch. We don’t carry anything we don’t make the base of in our kitchen,” she said.

A winter special spinach and short rib salad has been included on this summer’s menu which both Larsen and head chef Simon Wixey agreed is an unexpected menu item. Continuing through the summer will be Wixey’s Roast Dinners on Sunday, an affordable family style meal with a different take on traditional roast beef supper.