Restaurants on the Edge (2019–…): Season 2, Episode 2 - Restaurants on the Edge - full transcript
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We've been invited by restaurants
on the edge
of the most beautiful views imaginable.
Who really need some help
keeping their business from going under.
There is nothing more inspiring
than celebrating
a community on the plate.
But far too often, the better the view,
the worse the food.
This is about reviving
not only the restaurants...
Everything's at stake for us.
For us, this is life.
...but also the owners' belief
in themselves.
This means the world to me.
Oh, my God!
It's like a part of us here.
So, together, we're traveling
the world in search of inspiration
to transform these restaurants
into authentic hot spots
that paint a picture
not just of that restaurant,
not just of that chef,
but of that community.
I'm telling you, my brother,
you all changed my life.
When most people
think about Canada, they think of snow.
And they're not wrong. But one of
the greatest things about Canada is,
as you travel from coast to coast,
it changes.
The Okanagan Valley
is unlike any other place in Canada.
There's nowhere else in the country
you can grow what they can here
and definitely not to the level
that they can grow it.
We've been invited
to the Outboard Pub
by the owners, Anne and Campbell.
It's a father-daughter combo.
Coming from a franchise background,
we talk about systems.
The goal is a well-oiled machine.
I have a 5-month-old,
so life has changed quite a bit.
Anne descended upon me and said,
"Dad, I wanna go into business with you,
but I think I can do
a lot better than you."
- Never said that.
- "I'll build up a bigger empire."
I was getting tired and old, and saying,
"I think I'm a sailor at heart.
You'll do all the work."
They come
from the north of the province,
a thousand kilometers away.
And they're having a tough time adapting
to the difficult business challenges
this area presents.
When the tourists leave
at the end of the summer,
so do all their customers.
The Okanagan is my hood.
This is where I grew up.
Anne and Campbell's restaurant
isn't clicking with the locals.
I can help them with that.
The reviews
of the Outboard's menu
range from indifferent to angry.
The Okanagan Valley
produces some of the best fish,
beef, fruits and wines in the country.
If you own a restaurant here,
and people don't wanna eat your food,
something's wrong.
The Outboard Pub is situated
right on a lake,
looking out over mountains.
It's a magical location.
It's where
anyone would wanna sit down
and have a drink and a great meal.
There's a big sign
on the outside that says "Pub,"
but I walk in, and I'm thinking,
is this really a pub, though?
What's going on here?
I see outboards everywhere,
wood plaques everywhere.
I feel like something's missing.
It's not warm.
I don't really feel like it's inviting.
All I see is some ugly paint.
It looks like some
franchise restaurant in a strip mall.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- Pleasure to meet you.
- I'm Campbell. Welcome.
- I'm Dennis.
- I'm Karin. Nice to meet you.
- I'm Anne. Nice to meet you.
- What a great space you guys have here.
- It's situated beautifully.
- Do you get busy in the summer?
- Crazy busy. July and August, just insane.
What about the winter?
- Ooh. Dead zone.
- We turn it into a church in the winter.
Is it... Is it that dead?
We shut down for January and February now,
and half of March.
We thought
we could educate our customers,
but the trend
just didn't seem to be filling in.
A restaurant should never close
for months at a time.
You're losing touch
with your community and your customers.
Out of sight, out of mind.
So, it's a family-run business.
Father-daughter team.
- Very challenging, working with family.
- We've had some--
- Some battles.
- Yeah.
- Some battles.
- Gloves come off, and...
But the nice thing about family...
Family stays together.
For Anne and Campbell,
there's a lot to live up to here.
There are great restaurants
in the Okanagan Valley.
They've got great fish.
They've got great beef.
And because of that,
customer expectations are extremely high.
Hope you guys are hungry.
This is a cheesy business
of some sort.
So it's our quartz cheese,
our turtle tracks.
Just cross track fries
with nacho toppings.
Our lobster mac and cheese
and vindaloo curry. I hope you enjoy.
When the food hit the table,
honestly, it looked pretty good.
But then I tasted it,
and it didn't really match up.
The ingredients aren't great.
They're actually kind of subpar
and you really tasted it.
Who's in charge of the menu here?
Billy, who cooked it for us this evening,
and myself.
- Cool. Menus always change, right?
- They do.
What's your moon shot?
What would you love to be serving here?
I would love to
keep the food approachable,
but add a little bit of spunk to it.
We're in the Okanagan Valley.
This is the best place
in this entire country to grow anything.
Yes.
How much of this is local?
How much fish or beef or whatever
comes from a local farmer
or a local fisherman?
Um, our bread is baked at a local bakery.
Most of our bread.
Everyone's bread is local.
No one imports bread.
The strange thing
at the Outboard right now
is all of their ingredients are coming
from somewhere else in the world.
They're coming
from really God knows where.
A lot of it is frozen. It's not fresh.
I know why they're doing it.
It's because of cost.
But, really,
increasing the cost of that dish
while highlighting local ingredients
is why people are gonna
come for the experience of eating
what they have in their backyard.
I'd love to see more local.
What's the percentage
of food-to-alcohol here?
We have a really high food percentage.
We're about 70-30.
- Wow. That's really high.
- Yeah.
Whoa. 70-30?
With the name "pub," you'd think
they'd have higher alcohol sales.
We die off really early.
After the dinner rush, it clears out.
Even in the summer, we have a hard time
getting that late-night business.
There's so many things you can do
to switch over that dinner service
and give the place a different entity.
Tell me who designed this space.
I just started hanging stuff on the wall.
It was really kind of a hodgepodge.
I like it.
I like where he's going with it.
But it needs to be way cozier.
This needs to be an environment
that people wanna come to
even if they can't sit on the patio.
How did you
get into the restaurant business?
I grew up in it with my dad.
He owned A&Ws--
I started her working when she was 4.
- Labor was very expensive.
- Yeah.
That's illegal, sir.
- He did not pay me.
- No labor laws up here.
It just clicked.
It just clicked for me that I loved it.
My dad is an incredible mentor.
Not just a mentor to me,
but I think he very much mentored
a lot of his employees.
I think my dad has
put a lot of trust in people.
- He sure trusted me.
- Sure.
As soon as I got in there,
he took off and went sailing.
Campbell's heart is more
with the sea than with the Outboard.
But he can't retire and leave his daughter
with a restaurant that only makes money
three months of the year.
How has that been for you
to hand this over to your daughter?
I trusted Anne 100%.
And I've always believed in her a lot.
Are you getting teary-eyed?
- I think I'm sort of tired.
- Are you?
I was probably thinking
about Malcolm
and how he's missing me right now.
Malcolm's our pug.
- Right.
- No.
- Yes. He's number one.
- Right.
What would you really like
to see happen here?
I would really like to see a feel
that sort of tells people
that we're not just about a patio.
You can come and be comfortable in October
when it's pouring rain outside.
You're still in a place that...
Feels like a true pub.
A pub is a place
you wanna get comfortable in.
- This guy does comfort food unbelievably.
- Yeah.
And I say all the time, the best food
in the world reminds you of being ten
and eating your favorite dish
your mom made for you.
If you can take those dishes
and elevate them...
Yes.
...you'll hit that accessibility
you're talking about.
Whether it's June, and there's boats
flying all over the water,
or it's January, and people are freezing,
and they wanna come here, drink a stout
and eat some mac and cheese.
Well, this is a very pivotal moment
I feel like, for you-- Well, both of you.
Because you have a 5-month-old baby.
You are stepping back.
I think we should toast.
That's lovely. Thank you.
Here's to all of us.
- Cheers.
- Cheers.
Campbell isn't ready
to call it a career
and sail off into the sunset
until he knows
his daughter's future is secure.
Now, we need to make that happen.
There's two things
that Anne mentioned
that I pick up on right away.
The first is that she really wants
the space to be much more cozy.
I couldn't agree more.
These khaki tones with the wood, I mean,
you can tell it's been here for a while.
It's looking a little drab.
The second thing
is that she touches on local.
She was talking about the food,
but I wanna bring in
some local elements in the design.
Creating personality is all about
creating an environment
that people want to come to.
Even if the weather's miserable,
because if they can't stay open
during the winter,
they might not stay open at all.
Campbell is a restaurateur
from way back.
But the Outboard isn't a chain restaurant.
Nobody's getting in their car
in the dead of winter
and driving to a Mc-franchise
for an experience.
I feel the Outboard has become stagnant.
They're doing
what they're comfortable with.
And when that happens,
you start doing fast-pour cocktails
or serving frozen pre-made food.
As much as they don't wanna admit it,
they've lost touch with the Outboard.
You never wanna become so comfortable
with your surroundings
that you forget what you have access to
to make that particular location special.
Maybe you lost a little bit of focus.
I have a brand-new appreciation
for mothers.
I had this crazy idea
that I would be on my computer,
and the baby'd be in a little cradle,
rocking next to me.
She's the best baby, and she's smiley,
and happy while I'm holding her.
And then I think, "Oh, okay, I'm gonna
put you down, and you just keep smiling,"
but I'm gonna work on my computer.
But you put them down, and...
So, it's the balancing act
we're working on.
The restaurant was your first baby.
If this restaurant were to fail,
what does that mean to you?
I would be quite terrified to lose that,
to be honest.
The stakes are big.
In business, they're big.
We love the place
and we wanna make it successful.
At this point in life,
failure is felt very profoundly.
And I don't like to go down to defeat
knowing I didn't give my best.
It's on the two of us.
It's personal, it's down deep, it's here.
Campbell, where do you see yourself
over the next couple years?
- Hopefully, alive.
- Dad.
I'm 70 this year.
What will I be doing?
Well, I'm right... I'll be doing this.
I don't blame you.
Anne will be slugging away,
calling me on the phone, and I'll be--
- And you'll be like, "I'm losing service."
- I'll be learning how to multitask,
handling the tiller and the phone
at the same time.
It's important to know
when you've parted ways with this business
that you're doing
everything you possibly can
to give her the best life possible.
I'm very close to Anne,
and I wanna see her
fulfilling the potential that she has.
I know what I need to do here.
I need to get Anne and Campbell
not only connected with their space again,
but with their community.
So, I printed up some online reviews.
I always look at these as
a positive thing that we can work on.
"It's a million-dollar view.
Daily feature was halibut
and fries at $16.50.
Definitely not
what it should have been called.
Should have been called
fries with a small piece of halibut.
Can't recommend the food."
I hope from that review
that a ball wasn't dropped that day.
- Consistency is everything.
- It is.
You can't ever take your eye
off the ball.
That's when it gets dropped.
I wanna jump into the next review.
"Poor menu.
Nothing makes it stand out
from other pubs along the water."
- We blend in with the crowd, yeah.
- Yes.
"The meal was completely forgetful.
I can't even remember
what my daughter ordered."
Such a strong statement
for someone to say.
I've never heard someone
say something like that.
Maybe our menu does need
a bit of that razzle-dazzle.
- "Service was spotty as well.
- Hmm.
We won't be back,
even for that killer view."
- Wow.
- Wow. Well...
There's room for improvement.
You have people matching the view
with sort of higher expectation
of the restaurant.
I think, ultimately,
what I'd love to do with you guys
is take you on a little adventure.
I'll put you guys in a position
where you're gonna be able to create
new experiences for your guest,
both local and tourists.
When you have that connection,
you're gonna find that revenue stream
you didn't have before.
Yeah, there are a lot of ways
that we can create experiences.
It makes me happy because
it gives me a real sense of purpose.
No matter where you travel,
there's a taste of place.
We were at the Outboard last night.
There was no salmon.
It's called the Outboard.
It's meant to celebrate what's in the lake
that you're looking at.
If you're not celebrating what's local,
you know that's traveled
thousands of miles, it sucked diesel fume.
I don't wanna suck diesel fumes.
We're going to Cosens Bay,
the Kalamalka Lake,
to fish some of this
incredible wild salmon.
There's a lot of technology
happening here.
Old technology.
That makes me feel really good.
Kidding.
I'm stoked.
Here we go.
Saddling up on a float plane,
cruising over the mountains,
trees are everywhere,
it's beautiful, it's lush.
It's scary, too,
because this thing is bouncing around
like a tin can with wings,
but then you hit this beautiful lake.
I'm gonna meet a guy named Nelson.
He is the expert in all things salmon.
He has degrees in it.
And his passion is teaching people
why they're so important.
I wanna taste it. I wanna see
why it needs to be on the plate.
See how the mountains are curved?
In part, that's because glaciers
groomed this entire valley.
Glacier-groomed mountains.
Going and fishing sockeye,
best way to spend the day.
This is what they call
a dimictic lake.
It changes over twice a year.
At this time of the year,
the water is the same temperature
throughout the entire column.
Nelson knows more about water
than I know about anything.
He's the kind of guy that if you ask him,
"Hey, can you tell me about the water?"
He'll talk for about three hours.
Halfway through,
you have to give him a shot and say,
"Cool. Let's just go fish."
We've got a lure on here
called a wedding band.
It's got three or four
little sockeye salmon eggs.
In the middle of it
is this really shiny ring.
The shininess,
they're just attracted to it.
- Little bling.
- A little bling?
- A little bling.
- I'm attracted to bling, to be honest.
I'm a fancy guy.
And we might have something
on this line.
Keep the rod tip up.
I see him coming in.
- Okay. There's no fish on it.
- No fish.
It's kinda funny,
women seem to catch
two-to-one fish to the guys.
Does not surprise me at all, to be honest.
Everything I know, it's because a woman
has come and corrected me.
We've lost connection
to where our food comes from.
How is it that we can connect
people to place to food?
What you have
in these waters in the Okanagan
are fish that for thousands of years
have been able to sort of figure out
how to survive in these local conditions.
Kokanee that you would find here
would be different.
It'd taste different than
if you were down in Lake Chelan.
When you taste kokanee,
you're tasting the Okanagan.
That's so true.
We might have something on this line.
Maybe not. No. Damn.
If you want local,
it takes time and effort and energy.
And I think that that gives you
a competitive advantage.
And it's not just a 19-year-old,
20-year-old's game
who watched a YouTube video,
and then their eye...
Now they're woke and they
wanna watch something. Everybody cares.
There also lends itself
to community building.
And it's that experiential component
that often is just missing.
We might have something on this line.
That's fishing.
Nope.
I do not take enough time
to enjoy
the beauty that is just being alive.
Didn't matter that we failed.
We didn't fail.
We just didn't catch a fish.
People clear out of The Outboard
right after the dinner rush.
And that's not good for a pub.
We need to create a place
where people feel comfortable
to kick back with their friends
and get their drink on.
I'm painting the walls a nice,
beautiful dark blue in the restaurant,
and I need some more decor items
that'll really pop against the blue.
Look at this. This porthole.
Oh, my gosh. This is perfect.
When I'm doing a shop like this,
I really try to come in with an open mind.
- Hi.
- Hi.
Connor. I'm just happy
that was you and not me.
Nice to see you again.
Oh, my gosh. I haven't seen you for years.
- Yeah, it must be 15, 20.
- Yeah.
Twenty years probably.
Connor was a skateboarding DJ
back in high school.
And now he helps his mom run Lois Lane.
These are really fun.
- I think this would pop against the blue.
- Yeah.
See, the nice thing about vintage
is that it always tells a story
because anything that's vintage
has a little bit of history to it.
That sense of familiarity
always makes people feel comfortable.
- We have this giant ocean anchor.
- Oh, yeah.
It's spent its fair time
in the water.
So this is great, too, these propellers.
Yup, some small boat propellers.
Speaking of sailboats...
Oh, yeah, that's cool.
Something like this is great.
Campbell's nautical decor
is a great start,
but I wanna layer in more pieces
with soul and story
because it'll create a warm space that'll
draw customers in during colder months.
When you come
from a franchise background
like Anne and Campbell,
it's tempting to do
what everyone else is.
I'm bringing Anne and Campbell
to the Okanagan Spirits Distillery
where they make spirits
from 100% local fruits and grains.
I wanted to pull them away from that
quick-pour cocktails that come
from these mass-produced spirits
and introduce them
to something that is more local
that's gonna tell a story
and keep the guests engaged
and keep them coming in time after time.
What we're starting with here
is just a cocktail made out of
100% local products.
And this is really
where everything starts.
We've got our mash tun.
This is our big hot tub party
for our grains
to actually convert
the starches in those grains to sugars.
This will be about a half ton of grain
that's gonna come out.
All goes to a cattle rancher,
and it's used for feed.
But it also goes to a lot of the chefs
in the valley,
and they'll make a single malt bread
or they'll make a bourbon bread.
It's so great that everything
goes full circle and there's no waste.
We're here in front of Godstilla,
Canada's tallest copper pot still.
There's only two of these in the world.
And what Godstilla is really good at doing
is making the world's purest vodka.
Alcohol vapors will off gas
out of the liquid
and then work their way
through a series of escape rooms,
getting more pure and more pure
as they ascend.
I mean this
in the best way possible.
I feel like I just walked into a place
like Willy Wonka's making booze.
I mean, for God's sake,
he has something called Godstilla.
How can this thing
not produce something amazing?
Maybe what we'll do
is start on the light side.
You guys had a cocktail when you came in.
It had a modifier in it,
which was a raspberry liqueur.
It's gonna start as fruit,
distill it all the way up to 96% alcohol,
and then put that alcohol
back on fresh fruit,
which is gonna naturally pull the colors,
flavors, sugars out of that fruit.
Not like the versions
that we see nowadays out there
that are just sugar, corn alcohol
and artificial flavoring here.
Can you imagine the guests sitting down
and getting the same explanation,
the same education?
- Here, cheers, guys.
- Cheers.
This gives you an idea of what
a true local liqueur should be.
This is what spirits used to be.
- This is what they can be again.
- Wow.
I mean, I will be the first to admit
I feel kind of ignorant, coming in here.
I didn't know the differences between
what you're doing here and what...
That's not unintentional--
Yeah, I guess.
If you're dealing with those guys,
they don't go out of their way
to tell you.
Exactly. They don't wanna tell you
that everything in each of those bottles
is identical,
just different slightly versions
of the same base spirit.
Why don't you tell them
where you actually grew up?
I grew up just a few doors down
from your restaurant.
- So...
- Really?
Yeah. Our family's been
on the lake there
- for over 45 years.
- I'll be darned.
But that location that you guys have,
everything that's been there
has been just kind of ho-hum.
It's been like,
we're gonna do a slushy drink.
So much of what we've had in our cocktails
has been dictated by speed.
We can work with you
to do something that's unique
and is also easy to deliver.
I want people
to be able to present a drink
within 30 seconds to a minute.
This is a recipe for success,
having that community camaraderie.
Not just in the summer when it's busy,
but in the winter
when it's just locals there,
that's how you'll survive
is those locals saying,
"Those guys actually go the extra mile."
Sometimes you get
these specialty suppliers...
Sure.
...and they can have price points
that are not within the realm
- of what you're offering your customer.
- Right.
Because we are craft,
we can bypass the government liquor stores
without them taking 167% markup,
which would make ours unworkable.
We had a Moscow Mule, but I wanna show you
exactly how easy it is.
Gonna go with two ounces of the vodka,
gonna add it right into the glass.
You can have your mixer. Add it
right there at the table, just like that.
Immediately, right there,
that's an experience.
The mint goes right on there and boom.
How quickly was that done?
It brings the client into the act.
The mini bottles show up at the table.
They're like, "Cute. I want one."
I had two goals today.
One was the drink.
The other was to open
Anne and Campbell's eyes up
to how accessible
local craft spirits can be.
What I like about it, too,
is that the narrative
isn't about the multiplicity of things
going into the drink.
'Cause you're just pure flavors
and you're getting it for
$8 cocktail range for clear spirits.
- Cheers.
- We look forward to embracing it.
Salud.
Pure and simple is the key.
I'm going to introduce three
craft cocktails using three local spirits.
Just because all I caught
was a cold out on the lake today,
doesn't mean we won't eat.
Nelson's partner, Sean,
had better luck than we did.
I hear it was a tough day
of fishing out there, Dennis.
Oh. I don't know
if I would call it a tough day.
I was on the water. It's magical here.
We did not catch any fish, though.
We're really lucky,
as I caught some fish yesterday.
Awesome. I'm stoked.
I'll get some mushroom soup going.
It's made with morels and shaggy mane
mushrooms I picked in the wild.
When you go into an area the year
after a fire, they're everywhere.
And then we've got kokanee.
And I have a grill stone on my barbecue.
That way it doesn't stick.
We know the stone's nice and warm.
That's looking good.
Couple of little appetizers.
Smoked salmon with cream cheese and dill.
Some deer sausage that we made.
We're gonna have our fish on a salad.
Our nutrition's really important
to all of us, isn't it?
What you put in your body
is something that they say
makes you feel good,
so we should eat.
- Awesome! Yeah.
- Yeah. It's a quote.
Actually, if you look up quotes
by me on the Internet...
- Yeah.
- ...you'll find that there.
Nice.
That's great.
It's funny,
because when you say wild salmon,
you think it'll taste wild or gamey.
It's not gamey at all, but it's so much
more flavorful than farmed salmon.
The amazing thing
with sockeye and with kokanee
is the oil content seems to sit
right between the skin and the fish.
And when you cook it and you get it
just right, it just gives amazing flavors.
The First Nations have worked
with everybody else to build a fishery.
That fishery went from almost no fish
to 20,000 fish coming back every year.
We have an opportunity
to protect and preserve these fish
for future generations.
Yeah, we are stewards of a resource.
Get people at restaurants here
to stop eating unsustainable fish,
and bringing it in from Southeast Asia
- or Norway.
- Totally.
I get a lot of pleasure out of
introducing somebody to our local foods.
Kokanee skin is as good as it gets.
Yeah, it's amazing.
The outboard motors
are a nice local touch,
but I'd like to bring in something
with a little more meaning.
The First Nations
are the indigenous peoples of Canada
and they've been creating art
in the Okanagan for thousands of years.
First Nations art is really all about
- storytelling and symbolism.
- Yes, it is. It is.
- You're working on a totem pole.
- Yes.
So, the thunderbird figure
is a figure that is supernatural.
You don't see thunderbirds
flying around every day.
There are all kinds of myths and legends
attached to the thunderbird.
The human figure is representative
of the divineness of humanity.
The human is holding this great big fish
in representation of abundance.
- Oh.
- What they desire for abundance.
And the eggs is reproduction
and renewal and regeneration.
Because back in those days,
they even understood
that you can't take all.
Abundance comes from that.
This is the eagle form here,
representative of
grandfather, grandmother.
Owl figure here.
Initially, when man first came
to the earth, he was completely blind.
But the owl had two sets of vision,
night vision and day vision.
He felt sorry for man,
so he gave him his day vision.
First Nations is such a big part
- of the Okanagan history.
- Yes, it is.
Since you're a master carver, I kind of
want you to teach me how to carve.
- Yeah? Well, that's not a problem.
- Yeah?
- I do that all the time. Yeah.
- Okay, cool.
You don't have to come
straight down like that.
You can come across the grain like this.
See that? How easy it is?
Yeah. Oh, yeah.
I'm working with a restaurant
owned by a father-daughter team.
I'm leaning into a nautical theme.
There's nine members in their family.
- This is a story about renewal.
- Mmm-hmm.
What do you think would be the best?
Off the top of my head,
the whole salmon idea sounds pretty good.
There's prosperity, and there's abundance,
and there's family all involved in this.
They send their eggs
out into the river to be fertilized,
- not knowing where they'll end up.
- Right.
Everything that this story needs to tell.
This was the perfect place to come
to find a decor piece.
All of Darren's art has symbolism.
I wanna bring in
a local element to this restaurant.
Something that will remind
Anne and Campbell every day
that The Outboard isn't a franchise,
it's part of their family.
If you're a restaurant
in the Okanagan,
you have to have local wine.
This region is able to
pull out some world-class wines.
There's so many ways to incorporate
wine into food.
Sauces, desserts...
The Outboard needs that experience.
We're at Frequency Wines today
and I've heard there's a music element.
They've got a studio here.
I was a full-time musician,
so I slept on an air mattress
for ten years
and made no money
before I started cooking.
I know that there's
a combination of those two things here.
How did that come together?
Very similar to your story.
Musician traveling, many air mattresses,
and then babies came along.
I decided I wanted
to stop living on an air mattress.
One thing led to another,
started a winery, hired cool people.
I find cool people,
they usually play music.
We'd go in lunchtime jam sessions.
We started pulling out wine
from all the barrels as we'd play.
And everybody would take the barrels
next to the drum set. They tasted better.
We realized the barrels next to
the drum set were much more clear.
The vibration was making the sediment
in the wine settle to the bottom
more quickly than the others.
So, that's when it went, click,
we should open a new winery
with a recording studio in it
and just record bands
all day long and drink wine.
That's a best-case scenario.
And it worked out.
Five hundred bands
have recorded in our studio.
- What? Wow.
- All for free.
They're not paying for it.
And they get this feeling of gratitude,
and that's what we're trying to do.
We infuse the wine with the vibrations.
If I open the bottle, you're thankful
I'm opening the bottle, right?
You're grateful for that.
And then you make the food,
I'm grateful for that and we're connected.
And that is the powerful...
- That's what it's about.
- 100%.
That's how you change the world,
one meal and a bottle of wine at a time.
When you share those moments at the table,
you realize it's not your differences,
it's your similarities that you share.
You can't hate someone
you share a bottle of wine with.
You can't hate someone
you share a meal with.
You realize their humanness, and then
you come together, and there's love left.
And whether you disagree or not,
you appreciate that person,
and you actually see them differently.
God! Dude!
Thanks, man.
Can you explain to me the science
you've combined for wine and music?
This is called a Chladni plate,
and below here is a full speaker.
And we're gonna play
a frequency of 528 hertz.
This is just black sand,
and it's to recreate
what's happening to the sediment
that's inside of the wine.
Just gonna disperse across here.
That's crazy.
The patterns.
When this happens in the wine,
the sediment just naturally
becomes clustered,
and it becomes heavy,
and it falls to the bottom.
- That's intense and amazing.
- Right? Pretty exciting.
That's how Frequency started.
And as we stumbled into it, it was like...
"That's beautiful!
Man, we gotta figure out
how to do this to everybody."
I would really like to try this wine,
'cause I'm really stoked
to see what it tastes like.
Absolutely.
Let's get you a glass here.
We made a wine
called "Thanks, Mom."
And we put it in a box.
- Of course. Just like Mom wants.
- Yeah.
This is a heavily-oaked chardonnay.
Full-cluster press the grapes,
they then go directly into the barrel.
And you stir it, just like miso soup.
Reintroduce the sediment into the wine.
It tastes like Sour Patch Kids.
Every time you reintroduce that
into the wine, it gets more fruity.
- And Sour Patch Kids are my favorite.
- They're good.
- I love them.
- Me, too.
That's delicious. And I love the fact
that this is so portable.
- Comes with a handle.
- Exactly. Thinking about Mom.
Mom can take it with her.
So, this is our Grateful Vine.
This is a gratitude list.
And it's all the people
that have helped me start this winery.
And this bottle, the Grateful Vine,
I mean, the wine froze.
You know? It was like,
"No! Everything's terrible.
Nobody's gonna want it!"
But then Alexis and Tyler
came over in the snow,
and they racked it out into another tank,
we tasted it, it was like,
"It's awesome!" You know?
Because they came over and helped,
we decided what better of a wine to make
than a champagne-style wine. Right?
This is like a Gewürztraminer
like no other.
So... Just before you drink it,
just think of something
that you're grateful for, then drink it.
I feel like sparkling wine
has this fine line
between pretty bad and delicious.
And this is delicious.
There's one more thing
with this bottle of wine.
We're really spreading
the intention of gratitude
to everyone that walks through that door.
We surprise them, and we actually
gift them with a second bottle,
to give to someone they're grateful for,
and then it has that ripple effect
of just spreading gratitude.
- I love that.
- Mmm-hmm.
Can we go play music together?
One, two, three, four.
I have never considered
the science behind music and wine,
and that connecting
to create something more delicious.
When Alexis was explaining to me the nodes
and she had this science experiment
like something a kid would make
in grade seven, makes sense to me.
I don't understand the science of it,
but it makes sense.
And I love
that their idea is gratefulness,
gratitude and putting positive vibes
out into the world.
You can do a million things with wine.
I don't know what I'll do exactly,
but I know I'm gonna really crush wine
into this menu.
How cute are Anne and Campbell?
The nicest people.
- They're the best.
- The nicest people.
When Anne was saying that
she really wants to cozy up the space,
I jumped on that.
Feels too light and bright in there.
Pubs are not like that.
One of the changes,
painting the entire restaurant
a nice, beautiful dark marine blue.
It'll bring the walls in a little.
It'll bring the ceiling down a little.
It's gonna feel like a nice, warm hug.
I also wanna reupholster some furniture,
even introducing some drapery
and some vintage pieces.
It's all gonna create this pub vibe.
Pubs are all about texture.
I wanna bring in this brick wallpaper.
That back room with the pool table
needs some texture on the walls.
It can't just all be paint.
And then, last but not least,
Anne wants her restaurant
to feel like there's more
local elements in it.
You gotta check this out.
Did you carve this?
Can you imagine? Yes.
I'm so impressed.
- Two hours, and this is what I learned.
- Unbelievable!
I met a master carver,
and I think that First Nations
is just such a big part
of the history in the Okanagan Valley.
What I'm thinking right now
is incorporating some kind of fish.
It symbolizes abundance,
it symbolizes renewal,
and it symbolizes family.
And this is really a family story, right?
Anne is a new mother.
That's enough to really pull you
away from your business.
The business has become a little stagnant.
They've lost their connection
to the community.
So, I took them
to the Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery.
- You are drunk.
- Okay? That's where the truth comes out.
It's true.
But I saw passion in their eyes,
which we didn't see in the opening dinner.
And what I wanna do is introduce
three craft cocktails
using three local spirits.
This is the only
farm-to-flask distillery around.
I've never tasted spirits like this.
When the guests
experience that at the table,
they'll be coming back.
- Cheers!
- Cheers!
Taste this rye.
Tell me what you guys think.
Super smooth.
- Right?
- This would be great in a cocktail.
But this is just great on its own.
So, I love comfort food,
and I know that that's the space
that Anne wants to create.
But right now, none of it's local.
I hung out with some fishermen.
We epically failed.
Did not catch a single fish.
We had the best time.
And I learned
about the importance of the kokanee,
which is a wild salmon
and how that's actually thriving
in this part of the world.
The First Nations community is helping
a lot with that. And it's delicious.
So, local kokanee, kind of soaked in miso,
some soy, some honey and garlic
and ginger on top of a carrot puree,
some beautiful leeks on top of that.
They don't have
an experience dish right now,
so I wanna do a platter for four,
and it's a steak platter.
And use local seasonal ingredients.
No matter what time of year,
you can go and get it,
and it tastes incredible.
- Comfort food that's elevated.
- Yeah.
I can't wait for that dinner.
And I went to a winery.
It's called Frequency.
There's a guy who started it,
found this really unique way
of creating wine in a drum room
where the frequency of the music
actually affected
how the wine was being made.
Bands come in, they record there for free.
They want the good vibes
affecting the wine.
And the whole idea of the winery
is to give gratitude.
This little bottle of wine
is called Grateful Vine.
Dennis, I like this act of gratitude.
- What do you think?
- I can taste the music.
Sorry, I swallowed--
It must have been
a song that she didn't like.
Yeah. That was death metal.
It wasn't Jack Johnson being played.
She likes '90s.
Tell me what you want,
what you really, really want, Karin.
I like it a lot.
It's very refreshing.
Oh, my goodness, yeah.
I wanna incorporate this into the dessert.
I love the idea of roasting grapes,
turning that into a sorbet
and actually using this sparkling wine
right in that sorbet.
If I'm gonna go out somewhere to eat,
it's gotta be experience-based.
I wanna go to this great place
that makes me feel cozy,
looking at the water, and I'm eating
something that tastes incredible.
It's gonna get them that much more engaged
with the business that they'll never
close the doors for months at a time.
I think that'll put so much more passion
into Anne and Campbell as well,
'cause they're not gonna get bummed out
thinking, "We gotta close,"
and become stagnant.
That's not gonna happen again.
Let's do this.
- Cheers, guys.
- Cheers!
The Outboard is nearly finished.
It just requires one last finishing touch
that's going to connect Anne and Campbell
to both their restaurant
and their community.
Let's have a look.
Oh, my gosh!
- Wow. You did such a good job.
- Thank you.
- I think it ticks all the boxes.
- No wonder you're a master carver.
It looks great. Thank you so much.
- My pleasure. Glad you like it.
- Thank you.
I actually think it's turned out
better than I imagined.
But my concern is if Anne and Campbell
are gonna like it.
- Oh.
- Oh.
- Oh, my God! The brick.
- Oh. Nice.
- Anne, look at that. That is really fresh.
- Yes!
Oh, my gosh, look at this.
Just warms it up so much.
I'm actually just amazed.
Nicely done. Oh, my gosh!
- That's beautiful.
- Just so nice.
Oh, my God! Oh, I love these.
I love these.
I'm just astounded.
I always thought blue was a cold color,
but this is a warm blue.
- Karin!
- Hi.
- You did it, Karin. You did it.
- Hi. You did an amazing job.
- Yeah, you like it?
- We love it.
- You love it?
- I love it.
- Yes.
- Oh, my gosh.
Congratulations.
- You just knocked it out of the park.
- Yes!
- It's just so nice.
- Are you getting teary-eyed again?
- Very much.
- These eyes are old.
If you had told me you were
gonna paint it blue to make it cozier,
I'd have said, "Hmm?"
But it does work.
- You've got great ceiling height.
- Yes.
But that was making it
feel really cavernous.
The dark blue color kind of
closes in the space a little bit.
Now this wood really pops
against the blue.
- It does.
- It does.
Karin, I have to tell you,
this was exactly what I had in mind
when I started.
But Anne picked that other color.
- I love it.
- It threw me off.
- You're throwing her under the bus.
- No, you picked the color.
So, your chairs
have been reupholstered in blue.
I've added some drapery. I found
these props at a vintage store.
It's such an effective way
to give a space character.
- Yes.
- Up there, the sailboats.
That's beautiful.
You're a sailor,
so you needed to have
a new, vintage piece of art
that really reflected you.
So, let's go into the lounge.
A really easy solution
was to add some character and texture
with the brick wallpaper.
- That's right.
- Brick is so warm.
- Marine lights.
- Love them.
Your barstools up here
have been reupholstered.
- Yes.
- Yes.
- And then, did you notice the art?
- Yeah. Oh, of course, yeah.
- That is very nice.
- It's gorgeous.
I had met a First Nations master carver
from here in the Okanagan Valley.
- He made this?
- He made this for you.
What?
And the fish represents
abundance, renewal and prosperity,
which I thought is perfect
for the restaurant.
And the reason the fish eggs is important
is because that symbolizes family.
Your immediate family, there's nine,
so there's nine fish eggs.
Oh, yes. There are nine of us.
That's true. Yes.
Isn't that lovely?
- Personal thing.
- I know.
I feel touched
just telling you the story.
I'm really touched, too,
of the generosity of spirit.
I can just see myself
hanging out in here.
People in the community
are really gonna enjoy this. Yeah.
I wanna plant myself at the bar
and just hear people's reactions
as they walk in, and--
And I'm really excited to have
- a meal in this newly designed space.
- Yeah.
- Looking forward to that.
- That'll be fun.
It will be.
The Outboard's
unique location alone
is enough to draw crowds in the summer.
When the weather gets colder,
The Outboard goes into hibernation.
The locals see the view every day
and aren't willing to pay for it.
I'm really excited
about all three dishes.
It is the story of the Okanagan Valley
on the plate.
Everything tastes like
where we are right now.
Doesn't taste like every other pub
in the world. It's special.
- Here's Nick with the drinks.
- Yeah!
- Party has arrived.
- Yes.
Karin, I made you a Moscow Mule.
And for you,
I actually made you a gin and tonic.
- My favorite.
- For the gentleman, a Manhattan.
- I like the little bottle. Yeah.
- They're so cute.
The customers are gonna
pour their own.
You were working
with fast-pour cocktails before,
but now you're connecting that
with a local business,
and you're giving a table-side experience.
- Oh, my gosh!
- I see food coming.
- Look at this!
- Let me adjust it.
What's up, everybody?
- Look at that!
- Oh, my gosh.
Nice!
Ooh, lovely.
- Who's hungry?
- Starving!
We're all starving to death,
but this is just--
I don't wanna eat this.
I wanna look at it
for the rest of the evening.
- It's beautiful.
- It looks like art.
I had so much fun
exploring this part of Canada.
I've been here a couple times,
but I haven't explored.
I learned about kokanee,
so we've got a plank.
Really playing into
the international flavors
also in the region.
So, there's a lot of soy,
garlic, ginger, lime.
Crispy leeks on top,
in-season veg underneath
and a carrot purée.
Elevated, but not inaccessible.
And I really wanted to create a dish
that was a destination dish,
something that friends could come
and get around the table and eat together.
This is steak for four. Serve that up
with whatever you have in season.
We've got a basil vinaigrette here.
You can make this any time of the year.
Packed full of herbs. Really delicious.
I love the steak for four idea.
Whenever I go to a restaurant,
I wanna share a plate.
- You always eat off my plate anyway.
- Always.
As I look at the meat,
and it's just done to perfection for me,
how do you address four people?
The majority of people
are gonna run to a medium rare.
If anybody orders a well-done steak,
tell them to go to the pub down the road,
'cause nobody should do that.
- Not allowed.
- Don't ruin a steak like that.
They can get their steak
with ketchup on it.
That's steak abuse.
- Right?
- Yeah.
Don't trust people
that want a well-done steak.
The problem with food
that looks this good
is it's gonna get cold for people,
'cause they'll be busy instagramming it.
I'll serve you.
They will be, but that's also
free advertising for your restaurant.
You want people instagramming your food,
for sure.
That's right.
Sometimes, even the most
creative people in the world get stagnant,
and that's where
Anne and Campbell were at.
They had access to everything,
but didn't know
what they were missing.
The thing that they were missing here
was what was in their own backyard.
They just weren't tapping into it.
This fish is delicious. Mmm.
Do you think these flavors
will work at the pub?
- In a heartbeat.
- Oh, man! Yes.
They just taste so healthy.
People are known for being healthy
in the Okanagan.
- They are.
- My wife is a doctor.
I just see a lot more people down here
that are healthy.
There's this idea
that comfort food has to be bad food.
Comfort food is just food
that makes you happy.
People can feel good
about what they're eating.
We do have one last course.
A little surprise. I'll be right back.
I don't make dessert often,
but when I do, it's special.
I went to a winery here called Frequency.
And they record bands for free
around the wine because they want the wine
to have good vibes.
And the idea is you go in
and bring your good vibes.
What?
But they had one wine
that really spoke to me.
It's a sparkling called Grateful Vine.
You buy one and get one for free.
You give it to somebody
you're grateful for.
Dessert really is an act of gratitude.
You give someone dessert
'cause you're thankful for them.
So, this dessert is roasted grape sorbet.
Features this sparkling wine
in the sorbet.
Whoo. Nice!
This Frequency Winery,
because they bring so many bands in,
I brought a cassette tape for you.
You made me a mix tape?
I personally made this. It's all my music.
No, it's none of my music.
I'm interested to know if you
have a tape player in here.
I was thinking the same thing.
My kids would be like, "What is that?"
Can you imagine having this
on a really hot summer, lakey day?
They bring this at the end of the meal.
The best nights, for me anyway,
I remember how amazing the time was
with the people I love.
And things like this usher that in.
It makes that job easy.
Then people will come back.
They remember having
the best night of the year here.
I feel excited to share this
with other people
and to brainstorm more ideas.
Get more things going.
That's right.
You've just inspired us in so many ways.
We need that energy in this business.
Sometimes, we're just...
We lose a bit of it.
We're so proud of our team here.
I think they'll be enthused
by what we've gotten
out of this experience with you guys.
From the bottom of our hearts,
we thank you.
Thank you so much, all of you.
- That was so touching. Thank you so much.
- That was so touching.
Let's toast to that. Thank you.
Thanks for all of us.
- Cheers.
- Thank you. Salud. Cheers.
---
We've been invited by restaurants
on the edge
of the most beautiful views imaginable.
Who really need some help
keeping their business from going under.
There is nothing more inspiring
than celebrating
a community on the plate.
But far too often, the better the view,
the worse the food.
This is about reviving
not only the restaurants...
Everything's at stake for us.
For us, this is life.
...but also the owners' belief
in themselves.
This means the world to me.
Oh, my God!
It's like a part of us here.
So, together, we're traveling
the world in search of inspiration
to transform these restaurants
into authentic hot spots
that paint a picture
not just of that restaurant,
not just of that chef,
but of that community.
I'm telling you, my brother,
you all changed my life.
When most people
think about Canada, they think of snow.
And they're not wrong. But one of
the greatest things about Canada is,
as you travel from coast to coast,
it changes.
The Okanagan Valley
is unlike any other place in Canada.
There's nowhere else in the country
you can grow what they can here
and definitely not to the level
that they can grow it.
We've been invited
to the Outboard Pub
by the owners, Anne and Campbell.
It's a father-daughter combo.
Coming from a franchise background,
we talk about systems.
The goal is a well-oiled machine.
I have a 5-month-old,
so life has changed quite a bit.
Anne descended upon me and said,
"Dad, I wanna go into business with you,
but I think I can do
a lot better than you."
- Never said that.
- "I'll build up a bigger empire."
I was getting tired and old, and saying,
"I think I'm a sailor at heart.
You'll do all the work."
They come
from the north of the province,
a thousand kilometers away.
And they're having a tough time adapting
to the difficult business challenges
this area presents.
When the tourists leave
at the end of the summer,
so do all their customers.
The Okanagan is my hood.
This is where I grew up.
Anne and Campbell's restaurant
isn't clicking with the locals.
I can help them with that.
The reviews
of the Outboard's menu
range from indifferent to angry.
The Okanagan Valley
produces some of the best fish,
beef, fruits and wines in the country.
If you own a restaurant here,
and people don't wanna eat your food,
something's wrong.
The Outboard Pub is situated
right on a lake,
looking out over mountains.
It's a magical location.
It's where
anyone would wanna sit down
and have a drink and a great meal.
There's a big sign
on the outside that says "Pub,"
but I walk in, and I'm thinking,
is this really a pub, though?
What's going on here?
I see outboards everywhere,
wood plaques everywhere.
I feel like something's missing.
It's not warm.
I don't really feel like it's inviting.
All I see is some ugly paint.
It looks like some
franchise restaurant in a strip mall.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- Pleasure to meet you.
- I'm Campbell. Welcome.
- I'm Dennis.
- I'm Karin. Nice to meet you.
- I'm Anne. Nice to meet you.
- What a great space you guys have here.
- It's situated beautifully.
- Do you get busy in the summer?
- Crazy busy. July and August, just insane.
What about the winter?
- Ooh. Dead zone.
- We turn it into a church in the winter.
Is it... Is it that dead?
We shut down for January and February now,
and half of March.
We thought
we could educate our customers,
but the trend
just didn't seem to be filling in.
A restaurant should never close
for months at a time.
You're losing touch
with your community and your customers.
Out of sight, out of mind.
So, it's a family-run business.
Father-daughter team.
- Very challenging, working with family.
- We've had some--
- Some battles.
- Yeah.
- Some battles.
- Gloves come off, and...
But the nice thing about family...
Family stays together.
For Anne and Campbell,
there's a lot to live up to here.
There are great restaurants
in the Okanagan Valley.
They've got great fish.
They've got great beef.
And because of that,
customer expectations are extremely high.
Hope you guys are hungry.
This is a cheesy business
of some sort.
So it's our quartz cheese,
our turtle tracks.
Just cross track fries
with nacho toppings.
Our lobster mac and cheese
and vindaloo curry. I hope you enjoy.
When the food hit the table,
honestly, it looked pretty good.
But then I tasted it,
and it didn't really match up.
The ingredients aren't great.
They're actually kind of subpar
and you really tasted it.
Who's in charge of the menu here?
Billy, who cooked it for us this evening,
and myself.
- Cool. Menus always change, right?
- They do.
What's your moon shot?
What would you love to be serving here?
I would love to
keep the food approachable,
but add a little bit of spunk to it.
We're in the Okanagan Valley.
This is the best place
in this entire country to grow anything.
Yes.
How much of this is local?
How much fish or beef or whatever
comes from a local farmer
or a local fisherman?
Um, our bread is baked at a local bakery.
Most of our bread.
Everyone's bread is local.
No one imports bread.
The strange thing
at the Outboard right now
is all of their ingredients are coming
from somewhere else in the world.
They're coming
from really God knows where.
A lot of it is frozen. It's not fresh.
I know why they're doing it.
It's because of cost.
But, really,
increasing the cost of that dish
while highlighting local ingredients
is why people are gonna
come for the experience of eating
what they have in their backyard.
I'd love to see more local.
What's the percentage
of food-to-alcohol here?
We have a really high food percentage.
We're about 70-30.
- Wow. That's really high.
- Yeah.
Whoa. 70-30?
With the name "pub," you'd think
they'd have higher alcohol sales.
We die off really early.
After the dinner rush, it clears out.
Even in the summer, we have a hard time
getting that late-night business.
There's so many things you can do
to switch over that dinner service
and give the place a different entity.
Tell me who designed this space.
I just started hanging stuff on the wall.
It was really kind of a hodgepodge.
I like it.
I like where he's going with it.
But it needs to be way cozier.
This needs to be an environment
that people wanna come to
even if they can't sit on the patio.
How did you
get into the restaurant business?
I grew up in it with my dad.
He owned A&Ws--
I started her working when she was 4.
- Labor was very expensive.
- Yeah.
That's illegal, sir.
- He did not pay me.
- No labor laws up here.
It just clicked.
It just clicked for me that I loved it.
My dad is an incredible mentor.
Not just a mentor to me,
but I think he very much mentored
a lot of his employees.
I think my dad has
put a lot of trust in people.
- He sure trusted me.
- Sure.
As soon as I got in there,
he took off and went sailing.
Campbell's heart is more
with the sea than with the Outboard.
But he can't retire and leave his daughter
with a restaurant that only makes money
three months of the year.
How has that been for you
to hand this over to your daughter?
I trusted Anne 100%.
And I've always believed in her a lot.
Are you getting teary-eyed?
- I think I'm sort of tired.
- Are you?
I was probably thinking
about Malcolm
and how he's missing me right now.
Malcolm's our pug.
- Right.
- No.
- Yes. He's number one.
- Right.
What would you really like
to see happen here?
I would really like to see a feel
that sort of tells people
that we're not just about a patio.
You can come and be comfortable in October
when it's pouring rain outside.
You're still in a place that...
Feels like a true pub.
A pub is a place
you wanna get comfortable in.
- This guy does comfort food unbelievably.
- Yeah.
And I say all the time, the best food
in the world reminds you of being ten
and eating your favorite dish
your mom made for you.
If you can take those dishes
and elevate them...
Yes.
...you'll hit that accessibility
you're talking about.
Whether it's June, and there's boats
flying all over the water,
or it's January, and people are freezing,
and they wanna come here, drink a stout
and eat some mac and cheese.
Well, this is a very pivotal moment
I feel like, for you-- Well, both of you.
Because you have a 5-month-old baby.
You are stepping back.
I think we should toast.
That's lovely. Thank you.
Here's to all of us.
- Cheers.
- Cheers.
Campbell isn't ready
to call it a career
and sail off into the sunset
until he knows
his daughter's future is secure.
Now, we need to make that happen.
There's two things
that Anne mentioned
that I pick up on right away.
The first is that she really wants
the space to be much more cozy.
I couldn't agree more.
These khaki tones with the wood, I mean,
you can tell it's been here for a while.
It's looking a little drab.
The second thing
is that she touches on local.
She was talking about the food,
but I wanna bring in
some local elements in the design.
Creating personality is all about
creating an environment
that people want to come to.
Even if the weather's miserable,
because if they can't stay open
during the winter,
they might not stay open at all.
Campbell is a restaurateur
from way back.
But the Outboard isn't a chain restaurant.
Nobody's getting in their car
in the dead of winter
and driving to a Mc-franchise
for an experience.
I feel the Outboard has become stagnant.
They're doing
what they're comfortable with.
And when that happens,
you start doing fast-pour cocktails
or serving frozen pre-made food.
As much as they don't wanna admit it,
they've lost touch with the Outboard.
You never wanna become so comfortable
with your surroundings
that you forget what you have access to
to make that particular location special.
Maybe you lost a little bit of focus.
I have a brand-new appreciation
for mothers.
I had this crazy idea
that I would be on my computer,
and the baby'd be in a little cradle,
rocking next to me.
She's the best baby, and she's smiley,
and happy while I'm holding her.
And then I think, "Oh, okay, I'm gonna
put you down, and you just keep smiling,"
but I'm gonna work on my computer.
But you put them down, and...
So, it's the balancing act
we're working on.
The restaurant was your first baby.
If this restaurant were to fail,
what does that mean to you?
I would be quite terrified to lose that,
to be honest.
The stakes are big.
In business, they're big.
We love the place
and we wanna make it successful.
At this point in life,
failure is felt very profoundly.
And I don't like to go down to defeat
knowing I didn't give my best.
It's on the two of us.
It's personal, it's down deep, it's here.
Campbell, where do you see yourself
over the next couple years?
- Hopefully, alive.
- Dad.
I'm 70 this year.
What will I be doing?
Well, I'm right... I'll be doing this.
I don't blame you.
Anne will be slugging away,
calling me on the phone, and I'll be--
- And you'll be like, "I'm losing service."
- I'll be learning how to multitask,
handling the tiller and the phone
at the same time.
It's important to know
when you've parted ways with this business
that you're doing
everything you possibly can
to give her the best life possible.
I'm very close to Anne,
and I wanna see her
fulfilling the potential that she has.
I know what I need to do here.
I need to get Anne and Campbell
not only connected with their space again,
but with their community.
So, I printed up some online reviews.
I always look at these as
a positive thing that we can work on.
"It's a million-dollar view.
Daily feature was halibut
and fries at $16.50.
Definitely not
what it should have been called.
Should have been called
fries with a small piece of halibut.
Can't recommend the food."
I hope from that review
that a ball wasn't dropped that day.
- Consistency is everything.
- It is.
You can't ever take your eye
off the ball.
That's when it gets dropped.
I wanna jump into the next review.
"Poor menu.
Nothing makes it stand out
from other pubs along the water."
- We blend in with the crowd, yeah.
- Yes.
"The meal was completely forgetful.
I can't even remember
what my daughter ordered."
Such a strong statement
for someone to say.
I've never heard someone
say something like that.
Maybe our menu does need
a bit of that razzle-dazzle.
- "Service was spotty as well.
- Hmm.
We won't be back,
even for that killer view."
- Wow.
- Wow. Well...
There's room for improvement.
You have people matching the view
with sort of higher expectation
of the restaurant.
I think, ultimately,
what I'd love to do with you guys
is take you on a little adventure.
I'll put you guys in a position
where you're gonna be able to create
new experiences for your guest,
both local and tourists.
When you have that connection,
you're gonna find that revenue stream
you didn't have before.
Yeah, there are a lot of ways
that we can create experiences.
It makes me happy because
it gives me a real sense of purpose.
No matter where you travel,
there's a taste of place.
We were at the Outboard last night.
There was no salmon.
It's called the Outboard.
It's meant to celebrate what's in the lake
that you're looking at.
If you're not celebrating what's local,
you know that's traveled
thousands of miles, it sucked diesel fume.
I don't wanna suck diesel fumes.
We're going to Cosens Bay,
the Kalamalka Lake,
to fish some of this
incredible wild salmon.
There's a lot of technology
happening here.
Old technology.
That makes me feel really good.
Kidding.
I'm stoked.
Here we go.
Saddling up on a float plane,
cruising over the mountains,
trees are everywhere,
it's beautiful, it's lush.
It's scary, too,
because this thing is bouncing around
like a tin can with wings,
but then you hit this beautiful lake.
I'm gonna meet a guy named Nelson.
He is the expert in all things salmon.
He has degrees in it.
And his passion is teaching people
why they're so important.
I wanna taste it. I wanna see
why it needs to be on the plate.
See how the mountains are curved?
In part, that's because glaciers
groomed this entire valley.
Glacier-groomed mountains.
Going and fishing sockeye,
best way to spend the day.
This is what they call
a dimictic lake.
It changes over twice a year.
At this time of the year,
the water is the same temperature
throughout the entire column.
Nelson knows more about water
than I know about anything.
He's the kind of guy that if you ask him,
"Hey, can you tell me about the water?"
He'll talk for about three hours.
Halfway through,
you have to give him a shot and say,
"Cool. Let's just go fish."
We've got a lure on here
called a wedding band.
It's got three or four
little sockeye salmon eggs.
In the middle of it
is this really shiny ring.
The shininess,
they're just attracted to it.
- Little bling.
- A little bling?
- A little bling.
- I'm attracted to bling, to be honest.
I'm a fancy guy.
And we might have something
on this line.
Keep the rod tip up.
I see him coming in.
- Okay. There's no fish on it.
- No fish.
It's kinda funny,
women seem to catch
two-to-one fish to the guys.
Does not surprise me at all, to be honest.
Everything I know, it's because a woman
has come and corrected me.
We've lost connection
to where our food comes from.
How is it that we can connect
people to place to food?
What you have
in these waters in the Okanagan
are fish that for thousands of years
have been able to sort of figure out
how to survive in these local conditions.
Kokanee that you would find here
would be different.
It'd taste different than
if you were down in Lake Chelan.
When you taste kokanee,
you're tasting the Okanagan.
That's so true.
We might have something on this line.
Maybe not. No. Damn.
If you want local,
it takes time and effort and energy.
And I think that that gives you
a competitive advantage.
And it's not just a 19-year-old,
20-year-old's game
who watched a YouTube video,
and then their eye...
Now they're woke and they
wanna watch something. Everybody cares.
There also lends itself
to community building.
And it's that experiential component
that often is just missing.
We might have something on this line.
That's fishing.
Nope.
I do not take enough time
to enjoy
the beauty that is just being alive.
Didn't matter that we failed.
We didn't fail.
We just didn't catch a fish.
People clear out of The Outboard
right after the dinner rush.
And that's not good for a pub.
We need to create a place
where people feel comfortable
to kick back with their friends
and get their drink on.
I'm painting the walls a nice,
beautiful dark blue in the restaurant,
and I need some more decor items
that'll really pop against the blue.
Look at this. This porthole.
Oh, my gosh. This is perfect.
When I'm doing a shop like this,
I really try to come in with an open mind.
- Hi.
- Hi.
Connor. I'm just happy
that was you and not me.
Nice to see you again.
Oh, my gosh. I haven't seen you for years.
- Yeah, it must be 15, 20.
- Yeah.
Twenty years probably.
Connor was a skateboarding DJ
back in high school.
And now he helps his mom run Lois Lane.
These are really fun.
- I think this would pop against the blue.
- Yeah.
See, the nice thing about vintage
is that it always tells a story
because anything that's vintage
has a little bit of history to it.
That sense of familiarity
always makes people feel comfortable.
- We have this giant ocean anchor.
- Oh, yeah.
It's spent its fair time
in the water.
So this is great, too, these propellers.
Yup, some small boat propellers.
Speaking of sailboats...
Oh, yeah, that's cool.
Something like this is great.
Campbell's nautical decor
is a great start,
but I wanna layer in more pieces
with soul and story
because it'll create a warm space that'll
draw customers in during colder months.
When you come
from a franchise background
like Anne and Campbell,
it's tempting to do
what everyone else is.
I'm bringing Anne and Campbell
to the Okanagan Spirits Distillery
where they make spirits
from 100% local fruits and grains.
I wanted to pull them away from that
quick-pour cocktails that come
from these mass-produced spirits
and introduce them
to something that is more local
that's gonna tell a story
and keep the guests engaged
and keep them coming in time after time.
What we're starting with here
is just a cocktail made out of
100% local products.
And this is really
where everything starts.
We've got our mash tun.
This is our big hot tub party
for our grains
to actually convert
the starches in those grains to sugars.
This will be about a half ton of grain
that's gonna come out.
All goes to a cattle rancher,
and it's used for feed.
But it also goes to a lot of the chefs
in the valley,
and they'll make a single malt bread
or they'll make a bourbon bread.
It's so great that everything
goes full circle and there's no waste.
We're here in front of Godstilla,
Canada's tallest copper pot still.
There's only two of these in the world.
And what Godstilla is really good at doing
is making the world's purest vodka.
Alcohol vapors will off gas
out of the liquid
and then work their way
through a series of escape rooms,
getting more pure and more pure
as they ascend.
I mean this
in the best way possible.
I feel like I just walked into a place
like Willy Wonka's making booze.
I mean, for God's sake,
he has something called Godstilla.
How can this thing
not produce something amazing?
Maybe what we'll do
is start on the light side.
You guys had a cocktail when you came in.
It had a modifier in it,
which was a raspberry liqueur.
It's gonna start as fruit,
distill it all the way up to 96% alcohol,
and then put that alcohol
back on fresh fruit,
which is gonna naturally pull the colors,
flavors, sugars out of that fruit.
Not like the versions
that we see nowadays out there
that are just sugar, corn alcohol
and artificial flavoring here.
Can you imagine the guests sitting down
and getting the same explanation,
the same education?
- Here, cheers, guys.
- Cheers.
This gives you an idea of what
a true local liqueur should be.
This is what spirits used to be.
- This is what they can be again.
- Wow.
I mean, I will be the first to admit
I feel kind of ignorant, coming in here.
I didn't know the differences between
what you're doing here and what...
That's not unintentional--
Yeah, I guess.
If you're dealing with those guys,
they don't go out of their way
to tell you.
Exactly. They don't wanna tell you
that everything in each of those bottles
is identical,
just different slightly versions
of the same base spirit.
Why don't you tell them
where you actually grew up?
I grew up just a few doors down
from your restaurant.
- So...
- Really?
Yeah. Our family's been
on the lake there
- for over 45 years.
- I'll be darned.
But that location that you guys have,
everything that's been there
has been just kind of ho-hum.
It's been like,
we're gonna do a slushy drink.
So much of what we've had in our cocktails
has been dictated by speed.
We can work with you
to do something that's unique
and is also easy to deliver.
I want people
to be able to present a drink
within 30 seconds to a minute.
This is a recipe for success,
having that community camaraderie.
Not just in the summer when it's busy,
but in the winter
when it's just locals there,
that's how you'll survive
is those locals saying,
"Those guys actually go the extra mile."
Sometimes you get
these specialty suppliers...
Sure.
...and they can have price points
that are not within the realm
- of what you're offering your customer.
- Right.
Because we are craft,
we can bypass the government liquor stores
without them taking 167% markup,
which would make ours unworkable.
We had a Moscow Mule, but I wanna show you
exactly how easy it is.
Gonna go with two ounces of the vodka,
gonna add it right into the glass.
You can have your mixer. Add it
right there at the table, just like that.
Immediately, right there,
that's an experience.
The mint goes right on there and boom.
How quickly was that done?
It brings the client into the act.
The mini bottles show up at the table.
They're like, "Cute. I want one."
I had two goals today.
One was the drink.
The other was to open
Anne and Campbell's eyes up
to how accessible
local craft spirits can be.
What I like about it, too,
is that the narrative
isn't about the multiplicity of things
going into the drink.
'Cause you're just pure flavors
and you're getting it for
$8 cocktail range for clear spirits.
- Cheers.
- We look forward to embracing it.
Salud.
Pure and simple is the key.
I'm going to introduce three
craft cocktails using three local spirits.
Just because all I caught
was a cold out on the lake today,
doesn't mean we won't eat.
Nelson's partner, Sean,
had better luck than we did.
I hear it was a tough day
of fishing out there, Dennis.
Oh. I don't know
if I would call it a tough day.
I was on the water. It's magical here.
We did not catch any fish, though.
We're really lucky,
as I caught some fish yesterday.
Awesome. I'm stoked.
I'll get some mushroom soup going.
It's made with morels and shaggy mane
mushrooms I picked in the wild.
When you go into an area the year
after a fire, they're everywhere.
And then we've got kokanee.
And I have a grill stone on my barbecue.
That way it doesn't stick.
We know the stone's nice and warm.
That's looking good.
Couple of little appetizers.
Smoked salmon with cream cheese and dill.
Some deer sausage that we made.
We're gonna have our fish on a salad.
Our nutrition's really important
to all of us, isn't it?
What you put in your body
is something that they say
makes you feel good,
so we should eat.
- Awesome! Yeah.
- Yeah. It's a quote.
Actually, if you look up quotes
by me on the Internet...
- Yeah.
- ...you'll find that there.
Nice.
That's great.
It's funny,
because when you say wild salmon,
you think it'll taste wild or gamey.
It's not gamey at all, but it's so much
more flavorful than farmed salmon.
The amazing thing
with sockeye and with kokanee
is the oil content seems to sit
right between the skin and the fish.
And when you cook it and you get it
just right, it just gives amazing flavors.
The First Nations have worked
with everybody else to build a fishery.
That fishery went from almost no fish
to 20,000 fish coming back every year.
We have an opportunity
to protect and preserve these fish
for future generations.
Yeah, we are stewards of a resource.
Get people at restaurants here
to stop eating unsustainable fish,
and bringing it in from Southeast Asia
- or Norway.
- Totally.
I get a lot of pleasure out of
introducing somebody to our local foods.
Kokanee skin is as good as it gets.
Yeah, it's amazing.
The outboard motors
are a nice local touch,
but I'd like to bring in something
with a little more meaning.
The First Nations
are the indigenous peoples of Canada
and they've been creating art
in the Okanagan for thousands of years.
First Nations art is really all about
- storytelling and symbolism.
- Yes, it is. It is.
- You're working on a totem pole.
- Yes.
So, the thunderbird figure
is a figure that is supernatural.
You don't see thunderbirds
flying around every day.
There are all kinds of myths and legends
attached to the thunderbird.
The human figure is representative
of the divineness of humanity.
The human is holding this great big fish
in representation of abundance.
- Oh.
- What they desire for abundance.
And the eggs is reproduction
and renewal and regeneration.
Because back in those days,
they even understood
that you can't take all.
Abundance comes from that.
This is the eagle form here,
representative of
grandfather, grandmother.
Owl figure here.
Initially, when man first came
to the earth, he was completely blind.
But the owl had two sets of vision,
night vision and day vision.
He felt sorry for man,
so he gave him his day vision.
First Nations is such a big part
- of the Okanagan history.
- Yes, it is.
Since you're a master carver, I kind of
want you to teach me how to carve.
- Yeah? Well, that's not a problem.
- Yeah?
- I do that all the time. Yeah.
- Okay, cool.
You don't have to come
straight down like that.
You can come across the grain like this.
See that? How easy it is?
Yeah. Oh, yeah.
I'm working with a restaurant
owned by a father-daughter team.
I'm leaning into a nautical theme.
There's nine members in their family.
- This is a story about renewal.
- Mmm-hmm.
What do you think would be the best?
Off the top of my head,
the whole salmon idea sounds pretty good.
There's prosperity, and there's abundance,
and there's family all involved in this.
They send their eggs
out into the river to be fertilized,
- not knowing where they'll end up.
- Right.
Everything that this story needs to tell.
This was the perfect place to come
to find a decor piece.
All of Darren's art has symbolism.
I wanna bring in
a local element to this restaurant.
Something that will remind
Anne and Campbell every day
that The Outboard isn't a franchise,
it's part of their family.
If you're a restaurant
in the Okanagan,
you have to have local wine.
This region is able to
pull out some world-class wines.
There's so many ways to incorporate
wine into food.
Sauces, desserts...
The Outboard needs that experience.
We're at Frequency Wines today
and I've heard there's a music element.
They've got a studio here.
I was a full-time musician,
so I slept on an air mattress
for ten years
and made no money
before I started cooking.
I know that there's
a combination of those two things here.
How did that come together?
Very similar to your story.
Musician traveling, many air mattresses,
and then babies came along.
I decided I wanted
to stop living on an air mattress.
One thing led to another,
started a winery, hired cool people.
I find cool people,
they usually play music.
We'd go in lunchtime jam sessions.
We started pulling out wine
from all the barrels as we'd play.
And everybody would take the barrels
next to the drum set. They tasted better.
We realized the barrels next to
the drum set were much more clear.
The vibration was making the sediment
in the wine settle to the bottom
more quickly than the others.
So, that's when it went, click,
we should open a new winery
with a recording studio in it
and just record bands
all day long and drink wine.
That's a best-case scenario.
And it worked out.
Five hundred bands
have recorded in our studio.
- What? Wow.
- All for free.
They're not paying for it.
And they get this feeling of gratitude,
and that's what we're trying to do.
We infuse the wine with the vibrations.
If I open the bottle, you're thankful
I'm opening the bottle, right?
You're grateful for that.
And then you make the food,
I'm grateful for that and we're connected.
And that is the powerful...
- That's what it's about.
- 100%.
That's how you change the world,
one meal and a bottle of wine at a time.
When you share those moments at the table,
you realize it's not your differences,
it's your similarities that you share.
You can't hate someone
you share a bottle of wine with.
You can't hate someone
you share a meal with.
You realize their humanness, and then
you come together, and there's love left.
And whether you disagree or not,
you appreciate that person,
and you actually see them differently.
God! Dude!
Thanks, man.
Can you explain to me the science
you've combined for wine and music?
This is called a Chladni plate,
and below here is a full speaker.
And we're gonna play
a frequency of 528 hertz.
This is just black sand,
and it's to recreate
what's happening to the sediment
that's inside of the wine.
Just gonna disperse across here.
That's crazy.
The patterns.
When this happens in the wine,
the sediment just naturally
becomes clustered,
and it becomes heavy,
and it falls to the bottom.
- That's intense and amazing.
- Right? Pretty exciting.
That's how Frequency started.
And as we stumbled into it, it was like...
"That's beautiful!
Man, we gotta figure out
how to do this to everybody."
I would really like to try this wine,
'cause I'm really stoked
to see what it tastes like.
Absolutely.
Let's get you a glass here.
We made a wine
called "Thanks, Mom."
And we put it in a box.
- Of course. Just like Mom wants.
- Yeah.
This is a heavily-oaked chardonnay.
Full-cluster press the grapes,
they then go directly into the barrel.
And you stir it, just like miso soup.
Reintroduce the sediment into the wine.
It tastes like Sour Patch Kids.
Every time you reintroduce that
into the wine, it gets more fruity.
- And Sour Patch Kids are my favorite.
- They're good.
- I love them.
- Me, too.
That's delicious. And I love the fact
that this is so portable.
- Comes with a handle.
- Exactly. Thinking about Mom.
Mom can take it with her.
So, this is our Grateful Vine.
This is a gratitude list.
And it's all the people
that have helped me start this winery.
And this bottle, the Grateful Vine,
I mean, the wine froze.
You know? It was like,
"No! Everything's terrible.
Nobody's gonna want it!"
But then Alexis and Tyler
came over in the snow,
and they racked it out into another tank,
we tasted it, it was like,
"It's awesome!" You know?
Because they came over and helped,
we decided what better of a wine to make
than a champagne-style wine. Right?
This is like a Gewürztraminer
like no other.
So... Just before you drink it,
just think of something
that you're grateful for, then drink it.
I feel like sparkling wine
has this fine line
between pretty bad and delicious.
And this is delicious.
There's one more thing
with this bottle of wine.
We're really spreading
the intention of gratitude
to everyone that walks through that door.
We surprise them, and we actually
gift them with a second bottle,
to give to someone they're grateful for,
and then it has that ripple effect
of just spreading gratitude.
- I love that.
- Mmm-hmm.
Can we go play music together?
One, two, three, four.
I have never considered
the science behind music and wine,
and that connecting
to create something more delicious.
When Alexis was explaining to me the nodes
and she had this science experiment
like something a kid would make
in grade seven, makes sense to me.
I don't understand the science of it,
but it makes sense.
And I love
that their idea is gratefulness,
gratitude and putting positive vibes
out into the world.
You can do a million things with wine.
I don't know what I'll do exactly,
but I know I'm gonna really crush wine
into this menu.
How cute are Anne and Campbell?
The nicest people.
- They're the best.
- The nicest people.
When Anne was saying that
she really wants to cozy up the space,
I jumped on that.
Feels too light and bright in there.
Pubs are not like that.
One of the changes,
painting the entire restaurant
a nice, beautiful dark marine blue.
It'll bring the walls in a little.
It'll bring the ceiling down a little.
It's gonna feel like a nice, warm hug.
I also wanna reupholster some furniture,
even introducing some drapery
and some vintage pieces.
It's all gonna create this pub vibe.
Pubs are all about texture.
I wanna bring in this brick wallpaper.
That back room with the pool table
needs some texture on the walls.
It can't just all be paint.
And then, last but not least,
Anne wants her restaurant
to feel like there's more
local elements in it.
You gotta check this out.
Did you carve this?
Can you imagine? Yes.
I'm so impressed.
- Two hours, and this is what I learned.
- Unbelievable!
I met a master carver,
and I think that First Nations
is just such a big part
of the history in the Okanagan Valley.
What I'm thinking right now
is incorporating some kind of fish.
It symbolizes abundance,
it symbolizes renewal,
and it symbolizes family.
And this is really a family story, right?
Anne is a new mother.
That's enough to really pull you
away from your business.
The business has become a little stagnant.
They've lost their connection
to the community.
So, I took them
to the Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery.
- You are drunk.
- Okay? That's where the truth comes out.
It's true.
But I saw passion in their eyes,
which we didn't see in the opening dinner.
And what I wanna do is introduce
three craft cocktails
using three local spirits.
This is the only
farm-to-flask distillery around.
I've never tasted spirits like this.
When the guests
experience that at the table,
they'll be coming back.
- Cheers!
- Cheers!
Taste this rye.
Tell me what you guys think.
Super smooth.
- Right?
- This would be great in a cocktail.
But this is just great on its own.
So, I love comfort food,
and I know that that's the space
that Anne wants to create.
But right now, none of it's local.
I hung out with some fishermen.
We epically failed.
Did not catch a single fish.
We had the best time.
And I learned
about the importance of the kokanee,
which is a wild salmon
and how that's actually thriving
in this part of the world.
The First Nations community is helping
a lot with that. And it's delicious.
So, local kokanee, kind of soaked in miso,
some soy, some honey and garlic
and ginger on top of a carrot puree,
some beautiful leeks on top of that.
They don't have
an experience dish right now,
so I wanna do a platter for four,
and it's a steak platter.
And use local seasonal ingredients.
No matter what time of year,
you can go and get it,
and it tastes incredible.
- Comfort food that's elevated.
- Yeah.
I can't wait for that dinner.
And I went to a winery.
It's called Frequency.
There's a guy who started it,
found this really unique way
of creating wine in a drum room
where the frequency of the music
actually affected
how the wine was being made.
Bands come in, they record there for free.
They want the good vibes
affecting the wine.
And the whole idea of the winery
is to give gratitude.
This little bottle of wine
is called Grateful Vine.
Dennis, I like this act of gratitude.
- What do you think?
- I can taste the music.
Sorry, I swallowed--
It must have been
a song that she didn't like.
Yeah. That was death metal.
It wasn't Jack Johnson being played.
She likes '90s.
Tell me what you want,
what you really, really want, Karin.
I like it a lot.
It's very refreshing.
Oh, my goodness, yeah.
I wanna incorporate this into the dessert.
I love the idea of roasting grapes,
turning that into a sorbet
and actually using this sparkling wine
right in that sorbet.
If I'm gonna go out somewhere to eat,
it's gotta be experience-based.
I wanna go to this great place
that makes me feel cozy,
looking at the water, and I'm eating
something that tastes incredible.
It's gonna get them that much more engaged
with the business that they'll never
close the doors for months at a time.
I think that'll put so much more passion
into Anne and Campbell as well,
'cause they're not gonna get bummed out
thinking, "We gotta close,"
and become stagnant.
That's not gonna happen again.
Let's do this.
- Cheers, guys.
- Cheers!
The Outboard is nearly finished.
It just requires one last finishing touch
that's going to connect Anne and Campbell
to both their restaurant
and their community.
Let's have a look.
Oh, my gosh!
- Wow. You did such a good job.
- Thank you.
- I think it ticks all the boxes.
- No wonder you're a master carver.
It looks great. Thank you so much.
- My pleasure. Glad you like it.
- Thank you.
I actually think it's turned out
better than I imagined.
But my concern is if Anne and Campbell
are gonna like it.
- Oh.
- Oh.
- Oh, my God! The brick.
- Oh. Nice.
- Anne, look at that. That is really fresh.
- Yes!
Oh, my gosh, look at this.
Just warms it up so much.
I'm actually just amazed.
Nicely done. Oh, my gosh!
- That's beautiful.
- Just so nice.
Oh, my God! Oh, I love these.
I love these.
I'm just astounded.
I always thought blue was a cold color,
but this is a warm blue.
- Karin!
- Hi.
- You did it, Karin. You did it.
- Hi. You did an amazing job.
- Yeah, you like it?
- We love it.
- You love it?
- I love it.
- Yes.
- Oh, my gosh.
Congratulations.
- You just knocked it out of the park.
- Yes!
- It's just so nice.
- Are you getting teary-eyed again?
- Very much.
- These eyes are old.
If you had told me you were
gonna paint it blue to make it cozier,
I'd have said, "Hmm?"
But it does work.
- You've got great ceiling height.
- Yes.
But that was making it
feel really cavernous.
The dark blue color kind of
closes in the space a little bit.
Now this wood really pops
against the blue.
- It does.
- It does.
Karin, I have to tell you,
this was exactly what I had in mind
when I started.
But Anne picked that other color.
- I love it.
- It threw me off.
- You're throwing her under the bus.
- No, you picked the color.
So, your chairs
have been reupholstered in blue.
I've added some drapery. I found
these props at a vintage store.
It's such an effective way
to give a space character.
- Yes.
- Up there, the sailboats.
That's beautiful.
You're a sailor,
so you needed to have
a new, vintage piece of art
that really reflected you.
So, let's go into the lounge.
A really easy solution
was to add some character and texture
with the brick wallpaper.
- That's right.
- Brick is so warm.
- Marine lights.
- Love them.
Your barstools up here
have been reupholstered.
- Yes.
- Yes.
- And then, did you notice the art?
- Yeah. Oh, of course, yeah.
- That is very nice.
- It's gorgeous.
I had met a First Nations master carver
from here in the Okanagan Valley.
- He made this?
- He made this for you.
What?
And the fish represents
abundance, renewal and prosperity,
which I thought is perfect
for the restaurant.
And the reason the fish eggs is important
is because that symbolizes family.
Your immediate family, there's nine,
so there's nine fish eggs.
Oh, yes. There are nine of us.
That's true. Yes.
Isn't that lovely?
- Personal thing.
- I know.
I feel touched
just telling you the story.
I'm really touched, too,
of the generosity of spirit.
I can just see myself
hanging out in here.
People in the community
are really gonna enjoy this. Yeah.
I wanna plant myself at the bar
and just hear people's reactions
as they walk in, and--
And I'm really excited to have
- a meal in this newly designed space.
- Yeah.
- Looking forward to that.
- That'll be fun.
It will be.
The Outboard's
unique location alone
is enough to draw crowds in the summer.
When the weather gets colder,
The Outboard goes into hibernation.
The locals see the view every day
and aren't willing to pay for it.
I'm really excited
about all three dishes.
It is the story of the Okanagan Valley
on the plate.
Everything tastes like
where we are right now.
Doesn't taste like every other pub
in the world. It's special.
- Here's Nick with the drinks.
- Yeah!
- Party has arrived.
- Yes.
Karin, I made you a Moscow Mule.
And for you,
I actually made you a gin and tonic.
- My favorite.
- For the gentleman, a Manhattan.
- I like the little bottle. Yeah.
- They're so cute.
The customers are gonna
pour their own.
You were working
with fast-pour cocktails before,
but now you're connecting that
with a local business,
and you're giving a table-side experience.
- Oh, my gosh!
- I see food coming.
- Look at this!
- Let me adjust it.
What's up, everybody?
- Look at that!
- Oh, my gosh.
Nice!
Ooh, lovely.
- Who's hungry?
- Starving!
We're all starving to death,
but this is just--
I don't wanna eat this.
I wanna look at it
for the rest of the evening.
- It's beautiful.
- It looks like art.
I had so much fun
exploring this part of Canada.
I've been here a couple times,
but I haven't explored.
I learned about kokanee,
so we've got a plank.
Really playing into
the international flavors
also in the region.
So, there's a lot of soy,
garlic, ginger, lime.
Crispy leeks on top,
in-season veg underneath
and a carrot purée.
Elevated, but not inaccessible.
And I really wanted to create a dish
that was a destination dish,
something that friends could come
and get around the table and eat together.
This is steak for four. Serve that up
with whatever you have in season.
We've got a basil vinaigrette here.
You can make this any time of the year.
Packed full of herbs. Really delicious.
I love the steak for four idea.
Whenever I go to a restaurant,
I wanna share a plate.
- You always eat off my plate anyway.
- Always.
As I look at the meat,
and it's just done to perfection for me,
how do you address four people?
The majority of people
are gonna run to a medium rare.
If anybody orders a well-done steak,
tell them to go to the pub down the road,
'cause nobody should do that.
- Not allowed.
- Don't ruin a steak like that.
They can get their steak
with ketchup on it.
That's steak abuse.
- Right?
- Yeah.
Don't trust people
that want a well-done steak.
The problem with food
that looks this good
is it's gonna get cold for people,
'cause they'll be busy instagramming it.
I'll serve you.
They will be, but that's also
free advertising for your restaurant.
You want people instagramming your food,
for sure.
That's right.
Sometimes, even the most
creative people in the world get stagnant,
and that's where
Anne and Campbell were at.
They had access to everything,
but didn't know
what they were missing.
The thing that they were missing here
was what was in their own backyard.
They just weren't tapping into it.
This fish is delicious. Mmm.
Do you think these flavors
will work at the pub?
- In a heartbeat.
- Oh, man! Yes.
They just taste so healthy.
People are known for being healthy
in the Okanagan.
- They are.
- My wife is a doctor.
I just see a lot more people down here
that are healthy.
There's this idea
that comfort food has to be bad food.
Comfort food is just food
that makes you happy.
People can feel good
about what they're eating.
We do have one last course.
A little surprise. I'll be right back.
I don't make dessert often,
but when I do, it's special.
I went to a winery here called Frequency.
And they record bands for free
around the wine because they want the wine
to have good vibes.
And the idea is you go in
and bring your good vibes.
What?
But they had one wine
that really spoke to me.
It's a sparkling called Grateful Vine.
You buy one and get one for free.
You give it to somebody
you're grateful for.
Dessert really is an act of gratitude.
You give someone dessert
'cause you're thankful for them.
So, this dessert is roasted grape sorbet.
Features this sparkling wine
in the sorbet.
Whoo. Nice!
This Frequency Winery,
because they bring so many bands in,
I brought a cassette tape for you.
You made me a mix tape?
I personally made this. It's all my music.
No, it's none of my music.
I'm interested to know if you
have a tape player in here.
I was thinking the same thing.
My kids would be like, "What is that?"
Can you imagine having this
on a really hot summer, lakey day?
They bring this at the end of the meal.
The best nights, for me anyway,
I remember how amazing the time was
with the people I love.
And things like this usher that in.
It makes that job easy.
Then people will come back.
They remember having
the best night of the year here.
I feel excited to share this
with other people
and to brainstorm more ideas.
Get more things going.
That's right.
You've just inspired us in so many ways.
We need that energy in this business.
Sometimes, we're just...
We lose a bit of it.
We're so proud of our team here.
I think they'll be enthused
by what we've gotten
out of this experience with you guys.
From the bottom of our hearts,
we thank you.
Thank you so much, all of you.
- That was so touching. Thank you so much.
- That was so touching.
Let's toast to that. Thank you.
Thanks for all of us.
- Cheers.
- Thank you. Salud. Cheers.