Volume 18 Issue 1 » 87
ROAD TRIP
Making Memories
ROW FOURTEEN & KLIPPERS ORGANIC ACRES
Derek Gray by Will Fong
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If you ask me to name the most memorable dining experience of the year , it ’ s Row Fourteen in southern central BC .
Here on the scenic farm at Klippers Organic Acres , Chef Partner Derek Gray turns one chilly evening into twelve plates of field-to-fork mastery .
Row Fourteen is nestled half an hour northwest of Osoyoos just before the village of Keremeos . Cawston isn ’ t the kind of community where you would expect an outstanding culinary experience , but just remember that Row Fourteen is worth every minute of your road trip . Ease along the winding Crowsnest Highway through Similkameen Country . You ’ ll be rewarded with farm-to-table eating in its purest state .
Row Fourteen comes up unexpectedly ... both as a modern barn set back from the highway and as the most impressive of destination restaurants . The building is carefully planted on the fourteenth row of Klippers , a 60-acre organic farm that supplies a myriad of produce to markets , eateries and fine-dining restaurants across BC .
Here , the apples are crowded on rows and rows of espeliered trees just a few steps away . Owners Annamarie and Kevin Klippenstein explain their vision to build Row Fourteen right on the orchard . “ We really wanted to keep the orchard there and use as little land as possible , and have it look like the barn has always been there ,” says Kevin . Inside the barn , Annamarie adds , “ When people ask about the style , I just call it Farmhouse Chic . The tiles were designed by a farmer . It ’ s sleek and chic so it ’ s Farmhouse Chic .”
Will Fong
Chef Gray and Penticton architect Norman Goddard have delivered on the Klippensteins ’ quest for rustic luxury . An open-style kitchen , wood-fire hearth , and soaring honey-amber timber beams bring the restaurant to life . The tables are flexible . Tonight , they ’ re configured as a chef ’ s long-table , a nod to the orchard ’ s plein air events that inspired the restaurant in the first place .
We start with the orchard ’ s very own Untangled Craft Cider on display at a tasting room along the side of Row Fourteen . It ’ s hard to choose from the eleven tree-to-tap flavours , but five arrive promptly at our table : Hopped Apricot , Crimson Star , Blue Pear , Lavender