Tobiano Clubhouse

Tobiano Clubhouse - Tobiano Golf

The handout brochure in the folder with the bill for lunch read; Celebrated Executive Chef creates gastronomic delights that highlight local ingredients.

What a complete insult to the lunch I had just ingested! I had just been bemoaning the fact that BC seems to be the last place for the revolution of fresh food to hit. Sure, we have some great food here... but more often than not, we have a lot of bad food as well.

I was in Tobiano for work, and had been looking forward to my lunch at the clubhouse on the golf course. It is such a stunning location on the hill overlooking the lake. I had envisioned a plateful of fresh food whilst taking in the scenery. I ordered Roasted Turkey & Swiss on Sourdough & Creamy Cranberry Mayo with a side of Caesar Salad... dreaming of fluffy piles of turkey on a crusty sourdough roll. When the plate arrived, I could tell just by looking at the bread that it had been made in a factory in Mississauga and was three days the other side of fresh. The turkey was a small pile of cold cuts... the thin, slimy kind. In short, it was a sandwich you’d find in a plastic triangle at any number of gas stations dotted around BC. The Caesar salad was gooped up with dressing, and topped with bacon and sundried tomatoes. I’ve never seen a sundried tomato atop a Caesar salad in my life. I was so disappointed. I’m not a fan of going for meals when you know you could have made it better yourself. They had the nerce to charge $12.50 for it. To top it off, I ended up with tummy cramps all afternoon from the sheer amounts of preservatives in my lunch.

It’s so easy to do fresh food... BC has such an abundance of great produce. Tobiano itself is situated in the middle of a farming area, 20 minutes outside of Kamloops on the road to Cache Creek. So why do so many places continue to get it wrong? This isn’t the first time I’ve been promised gastronomic delights and then have been presented with a plateful of processed garbage. It’s such a shame, as the Tobiano Clubhouse is a gorgeous piece of architecture... with a summer patio right on the green. If you do happen to be in the area, it is worth taking in the view. I’d recommend a nice glass of wine, and an appetizer or two... they shouldn’t go too wrong with a plate of pita bread and hummus!