Kasai Teppanyaki Japanese Restaurant has opened at 8-1717 Harvey Ave., located in the Landmark district at the former Volkswagen dealership location.
Owned and operated by Ken Hoang and Tina Tang, the restaurant is absolutely beautiful, with high ceilings, booths, tables and a Teppanyaki seating section. In Japanese, Kasai means fire, teppan means an iron plate or a steel sheet, and yaki means to stir-fry. Teppanyaki is stir-fried meat, seafood and vegetables cooked and eaten off large, tabletop grills. It is a mouth-watering form of cuisine, with high quality products of beef, seafood and chicken. The fire, the food and the presentation show is unbelievable. With Kasai Teppanyaki dining, master chefs Ken Hoang and Walter Markmann prepare your entire meal in front of you. It was an amazing unique experience that is exciting and full of flavor and flair. Kasai offers a full lunch and dinner Teppenyaki menu. Ken and Tina have also owned and operated the Hoang Gia next to the Dollar Store in the Costco centre for 16 years. Reservations recommended. Open Monday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 5 to 9 p.m. Call 250-899-9900.
Tommy Gun’s Original Barbershop is opening a third location in Kelowna located within The District on Bernard Avenue in downtown Kelowna on Friday, Aug. 21. The new shop will be locally owned and operated by Amanda Cascaden. She started as a barber with Tommy Gun’s and worked her way into management for three years at the Orchard Park location prior to now opening her own shop. Amanda also worked for the company in Abbotsford Sumas and Langley, and previously owned and operated her own small boutique salon in Langley. Chris Pollock, former well-known marketing director at BC Tree Fruits for eight years, is the new national marketing manager for Tommy Gun’s, while Kat Boloten is the marketing coordinator.
Gary Gelinas, original owner, president and general manager of the BCHL West Kelowna Warriors hockey team, has moved back to West Kelowna. Gary originally moved to Kelowna in 2000 from Edmonton, launching the CIBC imperial service wealth division in the Okanagan. He then left CIBC to become a business owner. In 2010 he moved to Phoenix. Gary is now the new director wealth management for Valley First Credit Union.
Serving the Okanagan for over 30 years, Linda’s Quilt Shoppe, owned and operated by partners Jim Findlay and Linda Findlay at 114-948 McCurdy Rd., is now the official new Babylock sewing machine retailer for the Kelowna area. They are ecstatic to be able to sell such an amazing product line of sewing and embroidery machines with many new and exciting features. They also sell a line of self-threading sergers. Linda’s will start receiving products around the first of September and there will be free lessons offered for anyone that has bought a Babylock sewing machine or serger from the previous Babylock dealer in Kelowna.
Dr. Bonnie Henry Thank You Stamps are really cool. They were initiated by the Kelowna & District Stamp Club and printed by Canada Post. Following their Ogopogo Pandemic Face Mask Stamp, the club has created a Thank You Stamp for B.C.’s provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry. The stamp features the map of the province and what has become the “Be kind, be calm, be safe” quote attributed to Dr. Henry. Stamp club president Ed Haasdyk delivered some of the stamps to her office in Victoria. As with previous picture postage stamps printed by Canada Post, the number of stamps printed is small and there is no Canada wide distribution. The stamps can be obtained from the Towne Centre Postal Outlet and Card Shop, 571 Bernard Ave., or from publicity chair of the club Peter Lepold at lepold@telus.net.
The restaurant and patio at Moxie’s Grill & Bar, 1730 Cooper Rd., has now reopened with all the COVID-19 protocols in place, open Tuesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Moxie’s menu includes a good variety of soups, salads, vegetarian, plant based items, appetizers, steaks, mains of chicken and salmon, pasta and bowls, burgers, kids items and desserts. Moxie’s has a Happy Hour from 3 to 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. until closing with a full beverage menu, including a wide selection of cocktails. I tried the Chicken Madeira Rigatoni served with a garlic baguette and it was delicious. The restaurant is open Tuesday to Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Jason Turnbull is the regional manager.
Happy 65th anniversary
Dave and Joyce Insley (Aug. 19).
The Kelowna Sunrise Rotary Club has a new board of directors for 2020-21: Norm LeCavalier (president), Susan McIntyre (past president), Marjolein Lloyd (president-elect), Randall Bamford (vice-president), Bob Fortier (treasurer), George Pinches (secretary), Moya Webb (club membership), Brian Wrightson (club services), Allison Kirkwood (youth services) and David Rae (community services).
A $100,000 gift from Rotary Club of Kelowna Foundation Reichwald Fund will support the education of registered nurses at Kelowna major post-secondary institutions. Okanagan College and UBC Okanagan are each receiving $50,000 to support high-quality skills training and provide financial support for students in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program. At Okanagan College, $30,000 of the donation will support the Our Students, Your Health Campaign for a state-of-the-art Health Science Centre on the Kelowna Campus. The remaining $20,000 will create two annual student awards of $2,000 each for nursing students. Catherine Comben is the Rotary Club of Kelowna Foundation Board chair. To donate, contact Helen Jackman at hjackman@okanagan.bc.ca or Holly Routley at hroutley@okanagn.bc.ca
From Sept. 23-25, the Okanagan Wine Festivals Society will hold the BC Lieutenant Governor’s Wine Awards at Manteo Resort. As the oldest, largest and most prestigious wine judging competition in B.C., this event provides the opportunity for all licensed B.C. wineries to have their best wines judged by a highly esteemed industry panel. There is a full slate of judges from B.C. and New York. Local valley judges are Rhys Pender, winemaker; Emily Walker, Naramata Inn, sommelier and wine buyer; Sally Campa, Vino Volo regional manager and sommelier; and Mark Filatow, Waterfront Restaurant and Wine Bar sommelier and executive chef.
The 4th annual Golf for Julia fundraiser to help Julia walk again, one step at a time, sponsored by RONA, takes place Aug. 30 at Sunset Ranch Golf Club. This year, the entries will be capped at 100 and instead of a shotgun start, there will be staggered tee times with a plated dinner. There are still spots open for golfers and dinner.
The 25th year of the Crohn’s and Colitis Canada annual Gutsy Walk has gone virtual to raise money for research, patient programs, advocacy and awareness. The event takes place Sunday, Aug. 23. Everyone is invited to walk, run, skip or jump. More than 270,000 Canadians are living with Crohn’s disease or colitis, including more than 7,000 children. For more information, to register or sponsor the virtual walk go to www.gutsywalk.ca or call Donna Gallagher at 778-940-9066.
Birthdays of the week
Happy 104 Rein Busch (Aug. 22); Beverley Broten (Aug. 18); Jim Carta (Aug. 19); Tina Kristolowich (Aug. 20); Ken Bernath (Aug. 20); Cherie Hanson (Aug. 20); Ted Rhind (Aug. 21); Peter Sherba (Aug. 21); Brian Yerxa (Aug. 21); Donna Meade (Aug. 21); Ken Johnson (Aug. 22); Marg Hobson (Aug. 24); Gavin Young (Aug. 24); Bud Magrath (Aug. 24); Gerry Wourms (Aug. 25).
Maxine DeHart is a Kelowna city councillor and local hotelier. Phone her at 250-979-4546 or 250-862-7662; email max@maxinedehart.ca; website www.maxinedehart.ca.
