Merritt's newest eatery combines experience with a passion for food | Merritt Herald

Merritt's newest eatery combines experience with a passion for food | Merritt Herald

Valley Kitchen is Merritt’s newest eatery, a small-scale restaurant with big flavour operating out of the concession in Central Park, at 2975 Voght St. 

The new venture is a joint collaboration between friends with a passion for good food and good company.

“Valley Kitchen is four friends that have come together to bring their extensive experience and expertise in the restaurant industry to Merritt,” explained founder and co-owner, Katerina Reljic.

The goal of Valley Kitchen is to provide accessible, high-quality food and coffee and tea-based beverages to both residents of Merritt and the many visitors who travel through the community each year.

Customers can choose between deluxe hamburgers on a brioche bun, spiced maple drizzled chicken bites, double cooked fries, poutine with gourmet slow roasted pork topped with scallions, and a mixed greens salad featuring apple, pear and house made honey dill dressing, all created with quality ingredients and a strong attention to detail. Kids have a menu of their own, including cheeseburgers and chicken bites. Milano blend coffee is always hot and ready, with almond milk and oat milk available.

“We want to provide patrons with ‘comfort’-based food using local and seasonal ingredients,” said Reljic. “Valley Kitchen will provide an elevated, casual, dining-in-the-park experience for all Merrittonians.”

And indeed, Central Park is an ideal location for such an idea, providing a welcoming atmosphere with a skate park, baseball diamonds, a multi-use sports box and a nearby mountain bike course. 

The three other owners are co-founder Nolan Prowal, Mark Angelo Arcega and Jorge Sora. 

“I’ve been working in the customer service field for around ten years,” said Reljic. 

“Coming from a background of chefs, hospitality professionals and restaurant owners it was infused in my genetic makeup and eventually I couldn’t stay away. I started working in catering, doing event setup, serving, and food prep.”

Wanting to move into the more upscale side of the restaurant industry, Reljic began working at Diva at the Met, a boutique hotel and fine dining experience in Vancouver. 

“I worked there for several years, all while doing private catering on yachts on the side. I was then part of the opening team of Hawksworth Group’s award-winning sister restaurant, Nightingale, where I was senior member of the team for five years.” 

Arcega was born in Canada but raised in the Philippines, moving back to Canada in 2017 and beginning his culinary career as a line cook at Cactus Club. 

“He was able to take a step forward and join the Nightingale team as a server assistant,” said Reljic. 

“Mark established himself as a reliable, responsible, hardworking and loyal employee. Wanting to gain serving experience Mark took a position at Preston’s restaurant in the Coast Coal Harbour Hotel. His knowledge and experience working at Nightingale helped him to exceed expectations in his new work environment. Mark is wanting to bring his extensive hospitality and restaurant experience, along with his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Admin to help our business succeed.” 

Sora, the chef behind Valley Kitchen’s tastiest new creations, was born and raised in Colombia, although he moved to Canada at a young age. He worked as a server assistant and then a cook at Glowbal and Trattoria where he discovered his passion for the restaurant industry before joining the crew at Nightingale. 

“This is where his culinary skills were put to the test,” said Reljic. 

“Progressing from station to station, and climbing the ranks, Jorge was mentored by some of the world’s best chefs, cooking for upwards of 700 guests a day. Jorge not only excelled in quantity of service, he never sacrificed quality.”

Jorge even pursued his career to Copenhagen to work for an establishment known as the number one restaurant in the world, Noma.  

“Coming back to Vancouver, Jorge wanted to work for the newest and hottest fine dining establishment in Vancouver, Published on Main, where he would be able to showcase all of the skills and lessons he had learned,” said Reljic. 

“Having worked in his culinary career for amazing chefs, he now wants to join forces with friends to bring his knowledge of good food to the people of Merritt.”  

Nolan is a born and raised Merrittonian who moved to Vancouver to begin his restaurant career at the Banana Leaf, working as a Junior Manager, server and bartender. 

“This is where his love for cuisine and mixology grew and flourished,” said Reljic. 

“However, he decided to move on in search of a finer restaurant and found himself at Nightingale working as a server assistant, moving up in the ranks to serving team, and eventually moving to the bar team to advance his skill and gain more knowledge of the inner workings of running a bar.”

Prowal and Reljic made the move to Merritt in October 2020, looking for a fresh new start and to be closer to Prowal’s family. Wanting to start a business of their own, the pair reached out to their friends to get involved and Valley Kitchen was born. 

“We all met while working in the restaurant industry in Vancouver, and all became great friends,” said Reljic, who welcomed the change of pace in moving to Merritt.

“We love the small-town community…such a lovely and welcoming community, and we are so happy to be a part of it.” 

Published at Mon, 14 Jun 2021 16:43:01 +0000