'Refined neighbourhood restaurant' opens in Downtown Penticton, hoping to revitalize the area

A new restaurant opened in downtown Penticton is excited to “extend their kitchen to the rest of the community.”

Kin & Folk had their grand opening day on Tuesday, after many months of renovations and fine-tuning the space at 557 Main Street alongside their sister company Cocktails & Canapes.

Mack Davis, GM and owner said the “refined neighbourhood restaurant” hopes to bring people together to connect, enjoy food, and have a good time.

“We wanted to take the experiences that we really enjoy from being in our own homes, making food and drinks for family and friends whenever they come over and bring it to Penticton,” he said.

Both Davis and Chef Zachary Chan have a long history in the restaurant industry.

“The food that he makes blows me away still, to this day, even though I've got to eat his food for the past 20 years or so. He's actually my brother-in-law and now my business partner. And so we're really excited to take this on,” Davis added.

“He's been cooking other people's menus since he started and this is his first venture off in creating his own menu and bringing something that he's super passionate about to the city of Penticton.”

The restaurant is focused on sharing plates with Asian-inspired flavours along with drawing inspiration from global cuisines, contemporary techniques and fresh, local ingredients.

“W've got a fun mix of items. Everything from a scallop and prawn ceviche to a large soy chicken entree to some pasta, a little bit of something for everyone, which is tons of fun.”

The choice to settle into Penticton for the Lower Mainlanders came from a desire to be back in the community with their family and add a new vibe to wine country.

“I have spent my whole life walking up and down Main Street. My grandparents actually live right around the corner. I've seen it transformed over the years,” David said.

“And when this opportunity came up when Cocktails & Canapes took over this space and took over Joy Road catering — we had a big empty space to play with.”

The old building, which previously housed Craft Corner Kitchen before the pandemic has had a major facelift, but kept nods to the original architecture.

“It has a lot of great bones to the space. So we didn't want to change up the structure of it too much. We've got some fun arches that we wanted to play off of and keep. And you can see them in the front as well,” Davis said.

“We've been hard at work within these four walls and we're just starting to breathe a little and pop our heads out to be able to really connect with everyone. So we just love to welcome everyone down.”

Davis added that he hopes the restaurant will also breathe some new life into their area of Main Street.

“It seems like all the hustle and bustle is over by Neighbourhood, Wayne & Freda and Tratto. So we'd love to kind of revitalize this side of town and bring some excitement up here.”

Kin & Folk is open seven days a week from 2 p.m. until late. They have plans to soon add weekend brunch and open up their garden patio. For more information, head to their website here or follow them on social media.