The Goods from Home Block at CedarCreek Winery

The Okanagan, BC | Home Block Restaurant is perched in between the rows at CedarCreek Estate Winery, with breathtaking views of Okanagan Lake. The open concept kitchen, locally driven menu, and incredible wine list make it a local favourite and a must-stop for anyone new to the Okanagan food and wine scene.

Home Block is currently on the hunt for culinary talent! If you are a pastry cook, culinary events chef, or someone looking to intern, click here to learn more.

In the meantime, we caught up with Resident Chef Neil Taylor to get a behind-the-scenes look inside the Home Block Kitchen and learn a little more about a day-in-the-life of a chef in wine country…

Q. What is it that makes the Home Block approach to food so special?
I would describe the food at Home Block as clean and simple. The way we approach the build of our menus is something that makes us unique for sure. We’re not somewhere that writes a traditional menu that stays static for three months or every four months. We don’t think in terms of season but in terms of seasonality and that means our menu changes daily depending on what’s fresh.

There is so much creativity and challenge in working with our local suppliers to make dishes that showcase the best of what they have to offer at any given time.

Q. How would you describe the style of food served at Home Block?
What makes the menu so welcoming is that there is nothing really contrived—it’s very natural. I like to let the season and our purveyors dictate what we’re going to use and then we work dishes into the menu based on what we have.

From a Chef’s point of view, this definitely makes things more difficult, but it also makes things more delicious. I am constantly being challenged by the ingredients and this fuels my creativity. Never a dull moment when things are changing at this pace.

The food we cook here is quite natural. What I mean by that is that it’s not overly manipulated and overworked. Our beautiful, wood-fired grill is the heart of this kitchen, and it burns orchard wood and barrel staves from the estate. Cooking things over fire—that’s really as primal as it gets. I find when you buy great quality ingredients it is best to let the ingredients and the food do the talking.

Q. Can you tell us about your philosophy around sustainability?
We buy lots of whole animals from farms in Langley, Preston, and Kelowna. We just got a whole pig from a heritage farm at Langley a couple of weeks ago and it got the whole team excited. Working with the whole animal creates a lot of learning opportunities and creative outlets for the cooks. You’re not just opening up bags of pre-cut pork chops, you’re taking that whole pig and learning how to work with every piece. More local, less waste.

Q. In your experience as a Chef, what has mentorship meant to you?
I’ve been lucky enough to work with some really good chefs in England and it had a huge impact on how I cook and how I lead. I love having the opportunity to pass information down through on-the-job training. When we got a pig last week, I spent the better part of the morning with one of my cooks. We each took half of the animal, she stood opposite me, and we worked together to break it down into its primal cuts. For me, that’s a real joy and super rewarding.

Q. What is it like to work in a kitchen of this caliber?
We are so incredibly lucky. We have a beautiful, fully-stocked kitchen with a stunning view of the lake. The kitchen is also open concept so the entire culinary team can see what’s happening in the dining room. I think it’s a really cohesive place to work, in terms of the relationship between the guests and the kitchen.

Our beautiful, wood-fired grill is so fun to work with and incredibly versatile. We often use the coals and things that we have left at the end of the night to roast beets for the next day and make fresh bread with it daily. The mix of orchard wood and wine barrel staves also gives the food an incredible flavour. It’s a wonderful piece of equipment for sure.

Q. What does it mean to have a ‘wine led’ food program?
I had never worked in a winery before I joined CedarCreek so I was not sure what to expect. I’ve learned so much from the winemaking team about flavour, balance, and the concept of place. We spend a lot of time with our staff, tasting wine together with the whole team and this gives us a great platform to build our menus from. The marriage of the food and the wine is so incredibly important and when the two work together, it can really take the experience of dining to the next level.

Home Block (at CedarCreek Estate Winery)

Region: The Okanagan

5445 Lakeshore Rd., Kelowna

250-980-4663

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