Food Artisans of the Okanagan by Jennifer Cockrall-King

Author:Jennifer Cockrall-King
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781771511544
Publisher: Touchwood Editions
Published: 2016-04-06T16:00:00+00:00

EVELYNN TAKOFF

Micro Bar Bites | 1500 Water Street, Kelowna | 778-484-3500 | microkelowna.com

RauDZ Regional Table | 1560 Water Street, Kelowna | 250-868-8805 | raudz.com

A homegrown Kelowna farm girl involved in 4H, EVELYNN TAKOFF says food has always been an important part of her life. She first fell in love with the restaurant business as a server, especially the fast-paced environment and the adrenaline of a busy restaurant. After four years on the floor, she decided to broaden her skills and applied for a job in the kitchen. As it turned out, the back of the house had even more of the intensity, stress, and urgency that she loved. At 24 years old, she was hooked. She learned on the job, first at the Coast Capri Hotel in Kelowna under chef Monika Lauterbacher. Takoff then moved to Cabana Bar and Grille with chef Ned Bell and then over to RauDZ Regional Table in 2012. There she shared the position of restaurant chef with colleague Tyler Leeson, so on any given night, either one would be calling the shots in the open kitchen, visible to the packed house out front, and be in charge of the crew of one of the top restaurants in Kelowna. “It was terrifying, but I felt I was up to the challenge,” Takoff says.

When Rod Butters and Audrey Surrao decided to expand their restaurant business to another space a few doors down from RauDZ, they installed Takoff as the chef de cuisine at Micro Bar Bites in 2013. It was a pivotal year for Takoff, as she was also selected to compete on Top Chef Canada and Chopped Canada. The episodes aired in 2014, catapulting her into the national arena of celebrity chefs at the age of 28. While the experiences were “really trying,” they were also among the most challenging and rewarding of her career so far. “You just see how far you can stretch yourself physically, emotionally, and creatively,” she says of these pressure-filled competitive cooking shows. Now back at work with the team at RauDZ and Micro Bar Bites, Takoff’s “simple, fresh, local” cooking style is a perfect match for the focus of RauDZ’s pioneering farm-to-table restaurant and Micro’s hyper-local wine bar experience.

Evelynn Takoff

COURTESY OF SPATULA MEDIA + COMMUNICATIONS / RAUDZ CREATIVE CONCEPTS LTD

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