New beer-centric restaurant about to open at Kelowna airport

Kelowna airport is introducing a sudsy new landside food and beverage concept.

On tap for a mid-November opening, Ellison Field Taphouse is the beer-focused restaurant and bar taking over the White Spot space in the main terminal before the security screening area.

"It was a strategic decision to make a change and put in a taphouse concept pre-security," said airport director of operations and innovation Phillip Elchitz.

"It will serve as a sense of place serving local and craft beers as well as other beers and a contemporary menu."

By the way, the name Ellison Field Taphouse is a nod to the original name of the airport, which started in 1947 as Ellison Field with a grass landing strip.

The taphouse will be operated by SSP, the global airport food and beverage company that also operates the White Spot, Tim Hortons, Subway, Bright Jenny, vending machines and two gift shops at Kelowna airport.

SSP has partnered with the BC Rail Trail and BC Craft Brewers Guild so the taphouse can offer an exclusive line up of draft beers 'on tap' from small Kelowna and BC breweries.

The taphouse will also serve big-brand beers by the bottle and food spanning breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks from avocado toast and farmer's wraps in the morning to hummus dips, sandwiches, burritos, chicken wings, flatbreads and bowls.

"The kitchen is just being completed and the finishing touches are being done for the mid-November opening," said Elchitz.

A makeshift White Spot is still operating in the space as it's renovated and all will switch over to the taphouse when everything's complete.

The White Spot restaurant the other side of security in the departure lounge will continue to operate as usual.

Being located in the terminal before security means people flying and not flying can hang out at the taphouse.

The seating will also change significantly.

As a White Spot, most of the seating was tables with four chairs, which wasn't very efficient because a lot of single travellers and those only having drinks frequented the place.

The taproom will have two extra-long counters with stool seating -- looking into the main terminal's concourse and one along the massive windows that face out to the front entrance of the terminal.

"There will still be some traditional tables in the interior of the restaurant, but all the bar seating will serve a lot of the people who are travelling on their own," said Elchitz.

The taphouse addition is part of a $120-million renovation-expansion-improvement at the airport that will include three more restaurants in the double-in-size departure lounge, departure gates that lead directly to planes and new, quicker security-clearance lanes.

KelownaNow will run a more detailed story about the airport expansion this weekend.