Vranac Deli Café, at 1415 Hunter Court, is a quaint, unique deli café that is like no other in our city, or the valley. Owned and operated by Vesna Milojevic, Vranac serves home-made Balkan cuisine, which is found in the Balkans, a region in southeastern Europe without clear boundaries but which in its broadest sense includes the countries of Ex Yugoslavian and Balkan countries, with a Turkish influence. All the delicacies are made fresh daily in-house by Vesna, including Burek which is a stuffed phyllo pie with either feta cheese or ground beef and Cevapi which is homemade mini non-cased sausages in a sandwich, made with the most delicious home-made bread, roasted pepper spread and onions. Sausages are made in-house for either eat-in or take-out home frozen. Vranac also serves different specials daily, including goulash and cabbage rolls. You will not want to miss her roast pork Fridays and lamb Saturdays. Friday, an entire pig is roasted on their huge roasting rotisserie and is sold as a meal or 1 kg for $40.00 for take-out. On Saturdays, the lamb is roasted as a meal or 1 kg for $60.00 take-out. Vranac also bakes desserts of Baklava, Hurmasice and special cakes., which goes along with their delicious Turkish coffee. We sampled a lunch of Cevapi, with the most wonderful side of cabbage salad and both kinds of Burek. We had never tasted Balkan food before. It was absolutely different and delicious. We also took some Burek home. The best part of sitting in the café is watching Vesna make home-made bread by hand. Vranac also has a large variety of condiments to purchase including cheese, pickles, canned fish, pickled vegetables, biscuits, chocolate and Ajvar, which is roasted pepper spread. Vranac has 27 seats in the café and is open Tuesday to Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Check them out on Instagram.
.jpg)
The first Okanagan Coffee Festival is October 18th, 2025, at the Laurel Packinghouse. Engage with 30 coffee companies including roasters, specialty coffee shops and even some bakers. Enjoy unlimited coffee samples of all varieties and find out what will get your day going and supporting the growing coffee culture of Central B.C. There will be three – two hours sessions from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Bailey Mitchell of Anarchy Coffee Roasters is the organizer of the Okanagan Coffee Festival. Tickets and more information at www.okanagancoffeefest.com..
Luke Brimmage is the new Executive Director at The Bridge Youth and Family Services. He brings years of leadership experience in community service and has already immersed himself in the organization, connecting with youth in the Etcetera and Path programs and joining open discussions with men at Bridgeway Gray Road. Luke’s passion for grassroots work and his professional drive to strengthen local services make him a great fit for The Bridge. wwwthebridgeservices.ca
Leanne Richardson and Hallie Hamilton are the co-owners of the new Chomp Cookie Co., at #3 - 470 Banks Road. Leanne started the cookie company about four years ago from the kitchen in her home; then moved to a rented commercial kitchen and after partnering with Hallie, around eight months ago, they opened their own bakery. All Chomp cookies are big and bold crafted gourmet, 6oz. cookies that are all created in-house. The cookies are baked fresh daily with premium ingredients and are anything but ordinary. The flavors are Biscoff Crunch, Chocolate Chunk, Cookies and Cream, Kit Kat Crush, Reese’s Beast and a cookie of the month. Another popular cookie is their Reeses Beast. I sampled the Biscoff Crunch, which has a buttery vanilla base with Skor Bar chocolate chunks, Biscoff cookie mixed throughout, a gooey center and a mini Skor Bar garnishing the top. A 6 oz. cookie is just about an entire meal. Chomp offers charcuterie boards for events, pre-orders before 5:00 p.m. for next day pickup and fulfill orders Canada wide. Open Tuesday to Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. or until they are sold-out, which happens often. To go along with the cookies, you can enjoy Giobean coffee. www.chompcookies.ca
I was so proud to be at the Union of B.C. Municipalities in Victoria with Mayor Dyas and my Council colleagues, Wooldridge, Cannan, Lovegrove and Singh to receive two awards from the Community Energy Association for the city’s innovative climate projects. Of the 29 submissions received from B.C. Municipalities, the City of Kelowna was the only city to receive two Climate and Energy Action Awards for DeHart Community Park’s carbon neutral design and the city’s Climate Resilient Kelowna Strategy. The awards reflect the hard work and innovation of city staff and council’s commitment to making the environment and sustainability a priority. DeHart Community Park’s carbon-neutral design relies on taking advantage of the natural terrain and new plantings to balance park elements with the built environment to lower its carbon footprint including the use of local and natural materials, The park has more than 250 deciduous and coniferous trees, 11,000 flower bulbs, grasses, shrubs and perennials.
Angela Burnell has joined Scotiabank as the Branch Manager of the downtown Kelowna branch at 488 Bernard Avenue. Angela has over 20 years in the credit union system and some time as a mortgage broker. At Scotiabank, they specialize in wealth management, financial planning, lending, and everyday banking. Contact Angela at angela.burnell@scotiabank.com
Congratulations to the organizers, sponsors and volunteers of Rock the Foundation 2025, in support of the KGH Foundation, raising over $91,000.00 for Youth Mental Health. What an incredible event with organizers Dave Rush, Sean Pihl and Rick Maddison, along with the three incredible bands; Misfits, Sonic Tide and Rex. Partners and sponsors were Big White Ski Resort, The Pihl Family, Gorman Bros. Lumber, Callahan Property Group, Pihl Law, Valley Mitsubishi, Andre’s Electronics, Rush, Ihas Hardwick, and Troika. Huge thanks to the Pihl family for hosting the incredible event on their property. Thank you for letting me be a part of this great event and an exceptional giving.
The Women’s Shed will host a meet and greet on the 1st Tuesday of the month from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. and the 3rd Thursday of the month starting October 23rd from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. at Lee Valley, 1876 Cooper Road. Meet the board, talk about projects, share information and gather knowledge. Wendy Aitken is the President of the Kelowna Women’s Shed Society. www.kelownawomenshed@gmail.com or 250-864-6253.
URBA After Hours returns after the summer break on October 15th, 2025 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the newly completed Central Building with Arlington Group at 169 Rutland Road N. www.ourrutland.ca
Kiwanis Club of Central Okanagan held their installation on October 1st and now has new Officers and Directors for 2025 – 2026. They are Clarence Johnson, President; Tom Cockrell, Past President; Wendy Falkowski, Secretary/Treasurer and John Przywara, recording Secretary. Kiwanis celebrates over 75 years in our community, positively effecting many lives in many ways. If you would like to join this great organization or attend a meeting, contact Tom Cockrell at info@promar.ca or Clarence Johnson at claremar23@gmail.com.
Crave Cupcakes has just released a limited-edition cookbook gift set that is perfect for the baker, sweet tooth, or dessert-lover on your list. Following the recent opening of their first B.C. location in Kelowna at #100 – 750 Vaughan Avenue, the bundle brings Crave Cupcakes best loved recipes into your kitchen in two delicious ways. Crave: Cupcakes, Cakes, Cookies, and More from an Iconic Bakery, is a limited-edition bundle of three items that includes their cookbook, one vanilla confetti cake mix, and one chocolate cake mix for $53.00. The Bake-at-Home cake mixes, made with real ingredients and no preservatives, make it easy to recreate their iconic desserts. It features 70+ recipes, including Pumpkins Spice Latte Cupcakes, Salted Chocolate Chunk Cookies and their famous butter cream icing in all its mouth-watering variations. The bundle can be purchased on-line at wwwcravecupcakes.ca.
Are you looking for a last-minute turkey dinner? If you are craving a turkey dinner and do not want to cook, Specialty Bakery is roasting Turkey Thanksgiving Dinner for take-out with all the trimmings, including mashed potatoes, gravy, veggies, home-made stuffing, dinner roll and butter, cranberry sauce and a slice of pumpkin pie. Pre-order before October 9th before noon for pickup Friday, the 10th or Saturday, the 11th at the 833 Finns Road location only. All for $27.99 per person. Order in person or call 250-765-5822.
Kelowna Buddhist Temple Farmer’s Market & Bake Sale is Saturday, October 18th, 2025, 1089 Borden Avenue (across from Independent Grocers) from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. There will be lots of fruit and vegetables including, apples, pears, carrots, cabbage, Nappa, Daikon, potatoes, squash, cauliflower, beets, tomatoes, peppers, celery and more, along with baked goods and Tsukemono (Japanese pickles). Availability dependent on supply.
Friends of the Library, 35th Annual Great Okanagan Book Sale is at their usual venue at Immaculate Conception Parish Hall, 839 Sutherland Avenue, from Wednesday, October 15th to Saturday, October 18th. There will be 900+ boxes and 25,000+ items of bargain books for all ages and interests. Most adult and young adult books are $2 plus specially priced good-as-new items. There are lots of children’s books at $1.00. Fresh stock is added continuously with card and cash payments accepted. For more information visit www.kelownafol.ca
Mike Penninga has started a new endeavor. “The Leadership Lab with Mike Penninga” brings his 30 years of leadership experience in for-profit and not-for-profit environments together to support businesses and organizations when it comes to leadership, development, including one-on-one coaching, workshops, executive team development and keynote talks. Visit www.mikepenninga.com that has launched as the landing page for people to start their journey.
Birthdays of the week – Pawen Aulakh (Oct. 8); Allen Burke (Oct. 8); Patty Feist (Oct. 8); Jeremy King (Oct. 8); Jeramie Cole (Oct. 9); Karen Roen (Oct. 9); Virginia Pisio (Oct. 9); Dale Briggs (Oct. 9); Denette Sumners (Oct. 9); Carson Chan (Oct. 10); Michele Rule (Oct. 11); Stan Biggs (Oct. 11); Jan Verhagan (Oct. 11); Chris Gibson (Oct. 11); Ryan Morie (Oct. 12); Rosy Agostino (Oct. 12); John Eakins (Oct. 12); Cecilia Jans (Oct. 12); Don Donnelly (Oct. 12); Teresa Hodge (Oct. 13); Mervin Mascarenhas (Oct. 13); Linda Winnick (Oct. 14); Ruby Sargeant (Oct. 14); Barbara Vanstone (Oct. 14); Jerry Cronquist (Oct. 14); Phil Johnson (Oct. 14).
The Specialty Bakery Birthday Cake winner of the week is Linda Winnick. Linda, please pick up your Birthday cake at any of the Specialty Bakery locations no later than October 14.
Maxine DeHart is a Kelowna City Councillor and local hotelier. Phone her at 250-979-4546 or 250-862-7662. E-mail max@maxinedehart.ca
If you appreciate what we do, we ask that you consider supporting our local independent news platform.
If you get value from KelownaNow and believe local independent media is important to our community we ask that you please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter.
