When your résumé boasts culinary stints in Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Sweden, it’s a bit curious when you choose to make your gastronomic home in the heart of BC’s Thompson Okanagan. Or maybe not. For Chef Darin Paterson, Penticton’s lush landscape was a no-brainer: the region’s diverse agricultural scene is a grower’s dream, and a chef’s pantry. Heading the culinary team for this community institution for the last five years, Chef Paterson, armed with techniques acquired in European kitchens, has reinvented the heritage manor’s quaint German offerings to boast more refined French-inspired fare. Auf Wiedersehen schnitzel, bonjour local menus to match the changing seasons (think: Sousvide Lamb for colder climates and Duck Procuitto for warm-weather months). The Bogner’s team nourishes herbs and greens that spring to life right outside their kitchen door and even operate a less-than-one hectare (two-acre) farm just outside of town; at each, they cultivate the apples, cherries, squash and potatoes (and more) that they bring to the table. And at this Chef’s table, be sure to savour his signature smoked butternut squash soup with delectable potato gnocchi. From-their-garden fresh. With vegetables smoked by the Chef himself. www.bogners.ca