When it comes right down to it, what do all great chefs want to do? Open a kick ass sandwich shop. At least that’s my guess, after seeing scores of high profile chefs check their whites for a butcher’s apron, start churning mustards, pickling anything in sight and hanging various lengths of cured meats.
Chef Jason Leizert is the latest chef to pass up dressed up dining for the picnicking crowd, and he has done it in BC’s bountiful Okanagan Valley. Most recently of Vancouver’s stylish vegetarian restaurant The Parker, and an alum of the city’s lauded Boneta, Save On Meats and Corner Suite Bistro Deluxe, Leizert opened Salted Brick in downtown Kelowna earlier this year. The wood-hewn rustic, humble slip of a space flows with a simple open galley kitchen, bench and high top seating, chalk board of daily specials (and a single sheet, ever-changing menu), large refrigerator case for take outs and, the tell-tale sign, charcuterie hanging in various states of savoury deliciousness.
The jump has paid off for Leizert—when I took a late lunch there last week it was packed with locals, families, suits and a steady stream of people shopping the deli case for a picnic at the park down the block. It’s not just convenience that woos customers. While Leizert is making his locally-sourced, free range and hormone and antibiotic free charcuterie in house, he relies on the talents of other Okanagan producers for farm-fresh produce, cheeses and breads. Fresh, seasonal, quality, local are a given here, as is the natural enjoyment of sharing well made food, casually.
I enjoyed sharing the Ploughman’s selection of pickles, cheeses, charcuterie and grilled bread alongside a simple salad of summer tomatoes, basil and local cheese and a mountain of bitter greens tossed with blue cheese, egg and lardon lashes. I washed my feast down with house made iced tea, but there are a few beer and wine selections that could easily tempt me on my next visit. Watching the rustic sandwiches and inhaling the salted savory deliciousness from the open kitchen has guaranteed my return will be imminent.
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