Backyard Farm’s New Venture Is Farm-to-Table Dining at Its Finest

For Chris Van Hooydonk, a typical morning nowadays would possibly begin with wandering out to his orchard to choose some two-pound peaches that he’ll later serve at his on-site restaurant—grilled as a candy accompaniment to house-smoked char, or made right into a jam for filling handmade chocolate bonbons. The B.C.-based chef was born close to Edmonton, however he at all times had an inkling that the farm life was for him.

Van Hooydonk spent his early profession working in demanding, upscale French-influenced kitchens in Boston in addition to in B.C.’s Okanagan wine nation, but he craved a grounded, balanced life the place he may develop what he cooked.

And so in late 2013, he bought a historic farmhouse and acreage subsequent door to the south Okanagan house he shares along with his spouse, Mikkel, and their two daughters, for $400,000. After investing one other $50,000 into renovations and repairs, Van Hooydonk formally opened Backyard Farm Chef’s Table—a 20-seat restaurant serving seasonal meals grown on-site, which has since turn out to be one of many Okanagan Valley’s most famed eating locations, usually reserving up a yr prematurely.

Now a decade later, Backyard Farm Chef’s Table is beginning a brand new chapter by including a one-of-a-kind outside eating and occasion house in its orchard. “Being seated in our new patio area is actually sitting in the orchard looking at the fruit trees, being surrounded by hazelnut trees, which brings forth a sense of place,” says Van Hooydonk. “It’s that connection of saying, ‘You’re eating this peach in a butter sauce with your B.C. halibut. And there’s the peach tree that peach came from.’” Put in any other case, it’s table-to-farm eating at its best.

The patio venture took two years with the assistance of contractor Warren Brown of Desert Valley Consulting. And whereas its whole value to finish—$55,000—was increased than Van Hooydonk initially hoped to pay, he says the rustic-chic outcome will exceed the expectations of diners this summer season, with a gable roof, Douglas fir tongue-and-groove soffits, vintage-cinema lighting, Allen block partitions and customized screening by native design agency Alberto’s Decorating to maintain out mud and bugs. 

Van Hooydonk hopes to open an outside kitchen to accompany the brand new patio house subsequent, and is planning on incorporating extra informal programming, like afternoon charcuterie and family-style meals, into the restaurant’s choices.

Like the principle eating room, the orchard house seats 20 at three massive tables constructed from weathered, reclaimed teak with industrial-looking forged iron bases, bought at $1,200 a pop from Vancouver’s Antique Market Warehouse. The house will be reconfigured with smaller tables and wine-barrel drop spots for standing receptions like personal events or company capabilities.

“It’s a really warm feeling. The lighting is soft, the doors are amazing. All of the furniture is a conversation piece,” Van Hooydonk says. “And at nighttime, especially, with everything growing around, it just feels like a very, very private space.”