“FieldTrips” is either a day trip or a few days where I visit food areas of interest which may include farm visits, producers, wineries, restaurants and/or other places that people can visit. This is about offering Vancouver Foodster readers a chance to get out of town and take a “Field Trip” for the day or a few days to explore, learn, taste and experience.

Field Trip to the Southern Okanagan

As I was already in the Okanagan for a visit to The Naramata Inn there were other places that I wanted to visit and restaurants and such to eat at and explore.

One winery that I had never been to on previous trips to the region was Poplar Grove Winery and their on-site restaurant, I missed out on the previous incarnation, so this was the perfect time for us to try the latest which is the Restaurant at Poplar Grove which is located in nearby Penticton. Lawrence joined me for a delicious wine pairing lunch overlooking the vineyard and we each had a starter, main and dessert which I gave us a chance to try all the dishes amongst ourselves.

We toasted each other with their 2017 sparkling Brut before lunch.

For our starters, both the Tomato Latte Buratta Toast and the Seared Scallops were delicious.

For our mains, the Garden Risotto was stunning in appearance; and the Wild BC Salmon was very tasty too.

For our desserts, the Cheve Semifreddo was my favourite of the two, we also had the Dark Chocolate Cake.

My favourite wines were the Pinot Noir 2022 and the Chardonay 2022.

Our server at Poplar Grove Restaurant told us that she was a coffee lover and we must visit Soe while in the area and that we did the next day

Soe Coffee we loved this cafe that was new to the cafe scene for their delicious coffee, match and treats, specifically I had a Cortado and Lawrence had a Matcha Latte while we both shared a Chocolate Chip Cookie and a Matcha cookie.

After touring Phantom Creek Estates we had a wonderful dinner at the restaurant there that overlooks the Oliver valley. A couple of years prior we had visited for lunch and this time it was for dinner where Chef Alessa Valdez had a delightful offering of dishes.

Their dinners are at a fixed prix and you choose a selection for each of the 3 courses.

For our starters we had the Endive and Radicchio and the beautiful Steelhead Trout.

For our mains we had the flavourful Sablefish and the Flat Iron steak.

For dessert we had the delicious Genoise matcha cake, strawberry and elderflower and the Chocolate and Cherry.
Located at the Phantom Creek Estates winery the restaurant is situated close to the tasting room and boasts amazing views of the Oliver valley. We had tasted some of their award winning wines as well during our dinner.

It was a nice couple of days visiting Naramata, Penticton, Oliver and area.

Stay tuned for my next Field Trip outside of Vancouver.

By: Richard Wolak

Disclosure: Poplar Grove Restaurant, and Phantom Creek Estates restaurant provided us with complimentary meals. As always, all opinions and photos are my own.