On God’s Mountain Estate, out in a vineyard overlooking a shimmering lake, chef-caterers Cameron Smith and Dana Ewart cook and serve simple, beautiful wine dinners using ingredients from the land around them—the lush Okanagan Valley, in British Columbia. Although they have no restaurant, their naturally elegant, intensely flavorful cooking is helping shape a regional cuisine in a place that’s never been known for great food.
Since their food isn’t fussy, and because most of it can be made ahead (they have to lug it up a mountain, after all), Smith and Ewart’s recipes are perfect for home cooks like us too. What follows are excerpts from one of their terrific summer menus, with suggestions for wines from the western United States as well as the hard-to-find Okanagan ones. For more information on the God’s Mountain Estate wine dinners, visit joyroadcatering.com.