Kelowna Restaurant Group Loses Two More Businesses

A Kelowna restaurant group has lost another two of their properties, which were located at the Prestige Inn in Kelowna.

The Revival Group, who owned the Pilgrim & Pearl Oyster Bar as well as cocktail lounge 27 have now packed up their stuff and the spaces remain empty.

“We did close the restaurant on Monday and we are moving forward with preparing a new concept. We’re going in a different direction and so right now the plan is to be hopefully open in March with a new concept,” Tanya Stroinig, Executive Vice President for Prestige Hotels and Resorts said.

Pilgrim & Pearl Oyster Bar opened in the city in March of 2015. Jason Troll, owner of The Revival Group said in a previous interview with KelownaNow that he was excited to bring a new bold and different experience to Kelowna’s culinary scene.

“We had a vision that was a little bit east coast, it’s Hamptons meets Martha Stewart, with a little bit of Rodney’s Oyster Bar (in Vancouver), we wanted it to be comfortable, accessible, and we want people to come in and have a lot of fun,” explains Troll. “You can comfortably seat a group of 25, it’s airy, sunny and bright. We have reclaimed wood, the hardwood floors, all topped off with our 42 foot bar which makes it a lot of fun,” Troll said.

Cocktail Lounge 27 also opened in March and Troll hoped for the bar to have a Gastown feel with amazing cocktails.

This is the second major loss for the restaurant group.

In December of 2015 the group lost control of two other restaurants they owned. The Italian Table and Fleetwood Public House were taken back by Best Western Plus Hotel & Suites and have since reopened as new restaurants.

Rosemary Paterson, General Manager for the hotel told KelownaNow in a previous interview that the relationship ended due to “differing interests.”

Before making the headlines about the closing of those first two businesses Troll was rumored to not have the proper business and liquor licences in place for 27 Kelowna, Pilgrim & Pearl, and Fleetwood Public House.

Troll however said that was not true.

“For example, liquor licences are in the hotels name. We operate under what is called a third-party operator. No matter what changes happen, whether a restaurant goes bankrupt, a partnership break-up occurs, or a new operator comes in, they can sign a new third-party operator to whoever they want. The hotel takes the licence back into their name and will wait until the proper paperwork is refiled and third party operators put back into place.”

Allegations have been floating around Kelowna that The Revival Group has been experiencing financial troubles. An ex-employee of the restaurant group told KelownaNow they did not always get paid on time and sometimes payment never came at all.

When it comes to Pilgrim & Pearl, Stroinig said she can’t say much about why they closed the restaurant.

“I really can’t speak to the situation at Pilgrim and Pearl because it’s their own company issues.”

The restaurant will remain closed until the spring and until then the hotel will be looking at all their options to what’s in store for the space.

KelownaNow contacted Troll for an interview but calls were not returned.