Another Kelowna restaurant is making its national television debut.
Sunny’s Modern Diner will premiere on Saturday, February 20, with host John Catucci on the show Big Food Bucket List. The plan was to have the diner on the show originally last year, but due to COVID-19, travel and collection restrictions, the Food Network crew couldn’t make it to Kelowna and film the segment.
But Chef Rod Butters said everything worked out fine in the end.
“It’s great for Sunny, of course, but more importantly, it’s amazing that the Okanagan is on the national map,” he said.
“I always thought that the Okanagan was certainly one of the most exciting culinary destinations in North America.”
Butters is the founder and owner of Sunny’s as well as several other Kelowna restaurants including Micro Bar & Bites, RauDZ Regional Table, and Okanagan Table.
All restaurants are managed by his company RauDZ Creative Concepts, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2021. He said the Sunny’s episode welcomed the company’s second decade perfectly.
“We are very proud of this. It’s very difficult in the restaurant industry, but we’ve grown our company and let great chefs work for us. “
The episode will feature two popular dishes at Sunny’s: Chicks on a Raft and Chicken Meets Waffle.
Butters said that Chicks on a Raft is sweet and savory and was something he started perfecting as a teenager.
Chef Robyn Sigurdson, the chef and manager at Sunny’s, said it has been a popular menu item since the diner opened.
“To be honest, I have so many people looking at me like peanut butter and eggs? I’m like ‘you have to try’ and I’ve never had someone who doesn’t love it, ”she said.
Chicken meets waffle isn’t your standard chicken waffle dish, added Sigurdson.
“It’s an extremely fun dish, a little unusual for chicken and waffle dishes.”
The chicken is soaked in brine for 24 hours before being coated in homemade batter, fried, and added to waffles and coleslaw.
Sunny’s episode will air on February 20 at 5 p.m. and then again at 8 p.m. on the Food Network
From February 20-21, those who order either Chicks on a Raft or Chicken Meets Waffle will receive 50 percent of those sales donated to the Kelowna BC SPCA.
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Twila Amato
Video journalist, Black Press Okanagan
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