A love for great food and family is the driving force behind Vernon鈥檚 newest eatery.
The Okanagan Eatery 鈥� or T鈥橭K.E for short 鈥� is readying to open its doors on 30th Street and begin serving up smash burgers, breakfast and sandwiches made with locally sourced ingredients.
Backed with decades in the food and service industry, husband and wife duo Dustin Bowers and Chelsea Enns jumped at the opportunity to open a restaurant in a building that was once home to Da Poke Bowl, Kazehone Restaurant and Matina鈥檚 Pizzaria.
Joined by former colleague Mike Turner, the three hope to bring back some energy and life to that downtown block.
Turner and Bowers worked together at Vernon鈥檚 Kelly O鈥橞ryans and had always played with the what-ifs of opening their own restaurant, but after both parted ways from the franchise, Turner brought forward an interesting opportunity that would get the ball rolling.
鈥淢ike reached out and said he had a person looking to lease out this spot here,鈥� Bowers said of the 2809 30th St. location. 鈥淲e always kind of talked about it but we decided to throw caution to the wind.
鈥淚n the middle of a pandemic,鈥� he laughed. 鈥溾�榃hat are you going to do? Open a restaurant.鈥�
It made sense to wife Enns, too.
鈥淚 think with COVID and everything 鈥� and I think this is where everyone鈥檚 at 鈥� we just want to be happy,鈥� she said, underscoring the importance of that work-life balance often lost with late nights in the industry.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 need to make a million dollars, we just need to pay the rent and sell some good food.鈥�
Bower鈥檚 love for food and knack for writing recipes, combined with Turner鈥檚 exhaustive experience in restaurants across British Columbia and Enns鈥� front-of-house mastery, may have unlocked the secret to success.
鈥淢aking great food consistently and keeping people happy with great service,鈥� is Turner鈥檚 motivation.
Planning really got going in January when Bowers took five weeks off for 鈥渄addy days鈥� after the birth of their son, Rowen.
鈥淲e just hit the ground running and planned a restaurant,鈥� Enns said.
Things were running smoothly for the trio.
Renovations and upgrades were completed and furniture was scored on a dime, thanks to Enns鈥� thrifty second-hand shopping on Facebook Marketplace. They sourced ingredients from local businesses such as the Wedge Cheesery, the Hot Bread Shoppe and Grillers Meats and even started growing some of their own in a tower.
But things stalled for five weeks while the team waited for Fortis Gas to flip the switch.
鈥淔or the most part, there weren鈥檛 any hiccups鈥︹�� Enns said, suddenly remembering they were broken into once.
With that in the rear-view, they鈥檙e all looking forward to their opening.
鈥淰ernon is going to have a really cool place to eat,鈥� Enns said.
While no grand opening is planned at this point, Enns said with COVID-19 restrictions easing, she鈥檚 hoping something could be planned for July 1.
In the meantime, customers can stay tuned to @theokanagan.eatery on Instagram and Facebook for announcements of their soft opening.
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