K-Town Pizzeria (formerly Canadian 2 for 1 Pizza) has re-opened with a new name at 7 -1470 Harvey Ave. after it was one of several businesses destroyed in the Burtch Plaza fire of November 2012.
Owners Stan and Livia Badura have the same great pizza and are excited to re-open and serve their many former customers. K-Town uses fresh ingredients (even real bacon) and make home-made dough daily. Along with pizza, you will also find they have pastas, wings, salads, donairs, cheesy breadstix and garlic toast. The pizza crusts come in regular, thin or gluten free and they use only fresh mozzarella, feta, cheddar and parmesan cheeses. Prices are reasonable. The pizza outlet also offers take-out, delivery in the area and sells pizza by the slice. Watch for the Monday and Wednesday specials. Open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week. Call 250-862-3444.
The Bread Co., an eatery that also offers baked goods, has opened a second location at 102- 2949 Pandosy St. (formerly the Good Earth Coffee House). The first location remains at 363 Bernard Ave. Bread Co. offers baked good, soups, sandwiches, salads, paninis and breakfast until 11 a.m. on week days and until noon on weekends. Their products are baked fresh daily and after 4 p.m. the restaurant sells their bread for “buy one, get one free.” I had a nice chat with manager Erin Bailey who was delightful. Open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Saturday and 8 a.m.to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Dan Bronswyk is the owner of The Bread Co.
Dropped into Urban Fare and tasted Kalayra Angelyys’s Snacker Crackers, a gluten free almond snack product. They were delicious. Kalayra started her venture selling at the Kelowna Farmers Market, baking out of a commercial bakeshop. Snacker Crackers is also wheat free made with freshly ground almonds making it high in protein and fibre and low in carbs. She started with one flavour and now has five—Salty Rosemary, Salty Oregano, Hint of Sweetness, Ra Ra Masala (spicy) and Co Co Love. It’s a healthy, tasty snack right out of the bag, but can also be used as a cracker with a topping. Her product is unique in that almonds are listed as the first ingredient in Snacker Crackers. Available at Urban Fare (Mission Park), Carmelis Goat Cheese Farm, Okanagan Grocery Artisan Breads (Guisachan Village) and Save-On-Foods in Orchard Plaza. Check them out at www.snackercracker.ca or call 250-868-9421.
It’s all about making our lives easier. Mobile cheque deposit is now available at Interior Savings Credit Union, offering members a simple and secure option for their busy lives. CEO Kathy Conway says it’s extremely easy to use and the credit union is very excited this service is now available. You can take a picture of the cheque with your smartphone or tablet and the money goes directly into your account. The Interior Savings app can be downloaded free through the Apple App store. Interior Savings also expects to launch its Android app soon with the “deposit anywhere” feature.
One of the original Thai restaurants in the entire valley, Mon Thong Thai Restaurant, has opened a third location at 1573 Ellis St. (between Bernard and Lawrence). The other locations are 148-1876 Cooper Road (Orchard Plaza) and 81-1620 Dickson Ave. (Landmark Tower V). Joe Karunyasopon is the founder and owner of the restaurant chain, with his management group consisting of his son Ike and nephew New, who is the manager of the downtown location. The restaurant is large and bright with warm neutral colours of light wood, cream and white. There is plenty of seating for small or large parties. Mon Thong has an excellent variety of appetizers, soups, salads, noodles and rice, along with special orders and desserts. Look for a large selection of main dishes of curry, vegetables, seafood, chicken, beef, pork and veggie-tofu.Take-out also available. Call 250-868-8009 or check out www.monthong.ca.
Congratulations to the winners of the Canstruction Kelowna competition. The category winners were Save-On Foods (Juror’s Favourite); Maple Reinders (Best Meal); Glenrosa Middle School (Structural Ingenuity); Orchard Park Shopping Centre (Best Use of Labels); UBCO Engineering (Honourable Mention); Kelowna Rotoract (Best Team Spirit) and St. Joseph’s Elementary School (People’s Choice Award).The food used for the Canstruction event will be turned over to the local food banks.
The Brook Bar and Grill at Michaelbrook Ranch Golf Course, located just off Gordon Drive in the Mission, is opening March 1. Now owned and operated by Tom Stanbrook, the former owner of Aspen Grove in Lake Country, the restaurant has been completely renovated. Not only have they renovated the front-of-the-house, they have now also completely renovated the back-of-the-house, adding-on and rebuilding the kitchen, new washrooms and also new TVs. Their chef is J. P. Maltais and hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, seven days a week. They will also be open for breakfast when the golf course re-opens around March 15. Stay tuned.
Forget about the rain, sleet, snow or wind—World Beat Family Golf, 625 Old Vernon Rd., owned by Robert Letvinchuk, is now open for the 2014 season from 11 a.m. to dusk, seven days a week. Call 250-765-7010.
National Sleep Awareness Week is March 2-9. Registered polysomnographic technologist and certified clinical sleep educator Alena Krizek has started a new business, Community Sleep Coach, located within The Kelowna Wellness Clinic at 201-1433 St. Paul St. Her main goal is to raise sleep disorders awareness and educate the public on these matters as well as the sleep testing that is available to properly diagnose and ultimately treat these types of conditions. Sleep disorders are a common problem but people seem to neglect to seek help. Lack of sleep can cause irritability, impaired memory and concentration, poor performance at work or school, increased blood pressure, heart attacks or strokes. Alena hopes to change that. She provides consultations for individuals, couples or small groups depending on preference and budget. Call 250-681-4326 for an appointment.
Ran into Pam and Warren MacPhee, owners of Cora’s Restaurant which is relocating into the Orchard Park Shopping Centre. The MacPhees feel the restaurant should be open by the end of April or early May. Keep tuned for their official opening announcement.
Joel Young, entrepreneurship columnist with the Capital News and founder of the Okanagan Valley Entrepreneurs Society, has, in cooperation with Shaw Broadcasting, launched a new entrepreneurship TV talk show, The Fire Within. The program will feature genuine valley entrepreneurs sharing their stories and ideas to launch their respective ventures. Production is well underway and the show may be viewed on Channel 11 on Monday and Wednesday, 4, 5:30 and 9:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.
Kelowna’s Rutland (Banks Centre) Post Office will close its doors on Friday. The village of Rutland had its first post office opened in1908 on Rutland Road. Over the years, the post office moved twice, the last move being in June 2006 to Banks Centre to gain more space. Peter Lepold, on behalf of the Kelowna and District Stamp Club, has designed a limited edition Canadian postage stamp which commemorates the 116 years of Rutland’s post office existence. The stamp will not be available at the post office but can be purchased from the club or Peter by calling 250-765-3502 or email plepold@hotmail.com. The Kelowna and District Stamp club meets on the second Monday of each month from September to June, 7 p.m., at 1353 Richter St.
Kelowna Women in Business is hosting a contest to come up with a name for their wine. The group has decided to get wine labeled in their name to give as gifts and door prizes. House of Rose will be printing and labeling the wine with a KWIB label. Winners will be announced at their charity event in June. Of course, the prize will be a bottle of wine with the new KWIB label. Enter as many names as you like for either a red or a white. They may go with one or both. Go to www.kwib.org.
The Interior Blood Donor Clinic will host the Kelowna Hospitality Blood Donor Challenge on now until March 12. This friendly competition pits hospitality-related businesses against one another to see which organization can rally their employees to give blood. Every donation is used to treat hospital patients in need with blood recipients having cancer, receiving organ transplants, in car accidents or even new born babies. The Ramada Hotel and Conference Centre staff was the first hospitality business to take up the challenge with Larry Tuovila at the helm, organizing the event for the Ramada staff. Larry has been a continuous, conscientious donor for the past 36 years, donating 122 times as of Feb. 20. With his enthusiasm, he recruited and rallied many of the Ramada staff to donate. To rally your staff call Gayle Voyer at 250-448-4022 or email gayle.voyer@blood.ca
The winners of the 2014 Central Okanagan Heritage Society Annual Heritage Awards are Larry Foster (Distinguished Community Service); Bray House, 1810 Ethel St. (Conservation project on a building currently in residential use); Central Elementary School (Conservation project on a building currently in non-residential use); Stone House, 1806 Abbott St. (Continued preservation of a building); FH&P Lawyers, 275 Lawrence Ave. (Construction of a new building compatible with its heritage surroundings) and the Thomson Marsh Conservation Area (Conservation of a neighbourhood or area).
The Economic Development Commission will put on a free employer seminar on Temporary Foreign Workers – Labour Market Opinions on March 5, 9:30 a.m., at the regional district office, 1450 KLO Rd. Representatives from Service Canada will explain the new advertising rules, what needs to be included when you submit an application as well as trends that Service Canada may see with applications that have been submitted. Call 250-469-6280 or email info@investkelowna.com for more info.
Birthdays of the week: Happy 75th Penny Baker (March 5); John Matzigkeit (Feb. 27); Rob Mayne, City of Kelowna (Feb. 28); Vern Nielsen (Feb. 28); Ken Laloge (Feb. 28); Lyle Isenor (Feb. 22); John Ward (Feb. 28); Gail Winchester (Feb. 28); Norm Lecavalier (Feb. 28); Sandra Hofer, Sun-Rype (March 5); Walter Kristalowich (March 3); Jack Klassen (March 4); Faye Willms (March 2).
