Discover elevated après-anything cocktails at the heart of SilverStar Mountain Resort
Photos courtesy of Black Pine Social
Upstairs from the Red Antler at the heart of SilverStar Mountain Resort, the new Black Pine Social restaurant has two natures—like an urbanite-turned-weekend-warrior.
The alluring room has shades-of-grey walls and floors, and a swishy copper chain mail curtain screening a sexy supper club. It’s also got rustic barnboard panelling and a wood-burning stone fireplace fronted with deep leather couches for enervated skiers and cyclists. There’s a wrap-around patio and a long bar, “comfortable and deep enough for dining and to encourage chat and questions as you taste and order,” says Jacob Sweetapple of Notion Concepts, the brain trust behind a selection of back-bar gems like Eagle Rare bourbon or Don Julio 1942 tequila.
“During the pandemic it was a labour of love,” says owner Brandon Loughery of transforming the space into a fine-dining and cocktail lounge with the heart of great gastropub. “But we’re looking forward to this winter, and really bringing something different to SilverStar and to Vernon.”
The Lougherys are the power couple behind the Woodsman Group (Woody’s Pub in Lake Country, Packing House Pub in Kelowna) and thanks to Melanie Loughery’s wine expertise, you can taste B.C. wines from The Hatch, Clos de Soleil and Le Vieux Pin, plus iconic global labels.
One guest recently called chef Jarred Sauve’s cuisine the “fanciest, most eclectic pub food”—not a bad description for earthenware plates inspired by global alpine cultures from Japan (steamy ramen) to the Alps (Gruyère and pork belly mac and cheese).
The cocktail menu has mountain grace notes, too: an earthy nettle syrup enhancing rum and pineapple in the Flying V or the evergreen whiff of rosemary over gin and green tea in Last Chance. These cocktails “push boundaries,” says Sweetapple. Often, inspiration comes from the kitchen: ginger and lemongrass are natural après warmer-uppers and the house Caesar has a togarashi-spiced Japanese-inflected rim.
Black Pine Social also has a superior ice program, with king cubes made from ice slabs frozen and cut in house, as clear as a frosty alpine lake, some custom-stamped with emblems inspired by the drinks.
A snowboarder himself, Sweetapple says, “When I go out I’m probably still in my gear, and I want something light and refreshing. Once I clean up and head out for dinner, I want a bit more fine dining feel, and a couple of nice cocktails. We feed both of those needs: you can crush a beer and have some karaage, but you can also do fine dining with great wine and top shelf spirits.”
THIS POST IS SPONSORED BY:
Black Pine Social
148 Silver Lode Lane, Vernon
blackpinesocial.com
