The foodie scene in downtown Penticton is heating up.
Two months from now, just in time for the warmer weather, the downtown core will be home to not just one, not just two, but three new restaurants.
Two will be Asian-inspired and the third is currently a bit of a secret, but one thing is certain. All three new eateries will be in addresses with prominent food scene histories.
Potentially the first to launch will be at 340 Main, where The Elite stood for so many decades before shuttering and being completely rebuilt as the now-closed Block 300 Casual Steakhouse.
Run by longtime Pentictonite Darcy Wong and wife Christine Zhang, both of whom have lengthy restaurant industry experience, "Wild Ginger" is expected to open in late March/early April and feature what Wong calls a "best of Asia" menu.
He wouldn't get more specific than that, though he did admit that Wild Ginger will lean more toward authenticity than "fusion."
"I don’t like the word fusion," Wong said yesterday. "It means you’re mixing this and that. We're trying to keep it more genuine. Classic dishes that everyone will enjoy, and some dishes that many people will never have tried before."
"And we want to get everything right before we open. Have the staff ready. Have the menu ready. We'll be having a trial period with family and friends to make sure everything tastes exactly the way we want it to."
Something that won't change markedly from its previous Block 300 guise is the décor. And that makes sense. Block 300 owner Fred Trainor built a bright, delicate motif that would seem to suit Asian cuisine.
"It's a modern, clean space," said Wong. "Fred breathed new life into this place. I'm thankful to Fred for making a good foundation for me to take forward."
Wild Ginger will be open six days a week, closing only on Monday, and will offer dine-in, take-out, and delivery. Lunches will be part of the package.
The Asian influence will continue a couple blocks away at 74 Front Street when Katie Min reopens Ginza Japanese Restaurant. Destroyed by fire in 2017, the Penticton favourite has been fully gutted and rebuilt, and is expected to be ready, now as "Ginza Sushi," by mid-April.
When PentictonNow stopped by yesterday, Kim and husband Daesung were taking delivery of a humongous refrigeration unit and an equally humongous freezer.
But the changes at Ginza go far deeper than gear. The two-storey floor plan and the stairwell between those stories will be similar, but virtually everything else is all new and gorgeous.
The dining space on the top floor in particular will be breathtaking. Modern and sophisticated, it'll feature a bar and a spectacular natural wood ceiling.
As for the menu, Min is not yet getting specific. "We'll keep most of the old menu items," she said, "and we’ll have new items. Sushi of course, and some Korean dishes too."
Ginza Sushi will be open five days a week, closing Sundays and Mondays. It'll offer take-out, but not delivery.
Currently a bit more mysterious than the other two is the venue taking shape just a few steps from Ginza. It'll be in the same space once inhabited by Burger 55, at the rear of 52 Front Street, and renovations are already well underway.
We do, at this point, know the name. It'll be called "Loki's Garage." Beyond that and the scheduled opening, which should happen sometime in April, information is scant.
And for good reason. The menu won't be finalized for another week or so, and the final redesign minutiae is still being conceptualized.
None of the three restaurants above wanted photos this time around. And we get that. But PentictonNow will have thorough updates on all of them, complete with lots of pics, in the next few weeks.
Stay tuned.
