Food. Wine. View. Three of the main reasons people fall madly in love with the Okanagan Valley and three of the main reasons to visit Bonitas Bistro in Summerland.
Chef Colin Rayner offers a wealth of international culinary knowledge honed from 20 years of working abroad. Originally from Great Britain, he moved on to a fabulous lifestyle in Bermuda, where he worked at a private beach resort and even represented the Island on the culinary team who competed in Puerto Rico at the “Taste of the Caribbean Competition”. Incidentally, speaking to this guy’s talent, the team came away with silver and gold medals.
Wanting a change from island life, Chef chose to bring his wife and two young sons to the Okanagan three years ago – lucky for us wine country foodies. Rayner has been enjoying his new life here and says “I love it here – everything is at your fingertips,” referring to the lake, ski hills and of course great produce and wines nearby.
Chef Rayner describes his cuisine as “good, honest, food” and likes to focus on clean flavour combinations and comfort food. When asked what his style of cuisine is, he summarized it as, “a combination of all of my (culinary) experiences rolled up with a Canadian twist”. His melting pot of flavour experiences comes from working with Chefs from all over the world.
Menu selections include mouthwatering dishes like:
-3-Tomato, Prawn & Avocado Bruschetta.
-House Cured 5-Spice Salmon.
-Cinnamon Roast Breast of Duck, Apple Confit Strudel, Sage Gnocchi, Merlot Reduction.
A perfect location to host a private party or a wedding, Bonitas Bistro is located on site at Bonitas Winery and the combination provides a stunning venue to entertain at. Truly a unique destination winery restaurant, they will be open for lunch and dinner 7 days a week throughout the summer. Do make sure to stay tuned for news on feature dinner menus.
~ Jennifer Schell