Hundreds gather for Queen

Photo: Nicholas Johansen

Hundreds of eager fans lined up outside Il Tavolino Italian Bistro Saturday to get their hands on a gelato served by a queen.

Or at least someone who plays a queen on T.V.

Lana Parrilla, known for her role as the Evil Queen on ABC’s Once Upon a Time, was serving gelato at the bistro from 3 to 4 p.m.  At 4 p.m. there were still over a hundred people in line, but Parilla was staying a bit later to meet as many fans as she could.

“I didn’t think I'd get to meet anybody famous in Kelowna,” said eleven-year old Natasha Vizi, who had been waiting for an hour, but was near the back of the line still.

“We were late, apparently the lineup started at 11:30 this morning,” said Karen Vizi.

Parilla attended a dinner prepared by Il Tavolino’s owner, Alessandro De Angelis, in Vancouver when the show was in its infancy.

She fell in love with his cooking, even taking a side of his meatballs home with her.

“We love cooking special meals and really enjoy authentic food,” Parrilla said in a release. “That’s why we decided to come to Kelowna. Sandro’s told us so much about the Okanagan landscape, the food, the weather, the wines... we had to come see for ourselves.”

Parilla, a native of New York, had never been to the Okanagan before.

Colleen Bryant, a costume designer, had all of her friends fully decked out in show-related costumes.

She had one thing she wanted to tell Parilla when she finally got up to the front.

“Thank you for inspiring hope.”

Photo: Nicholas Johansen