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Cleaning up a downtown street’s image one burger at a time

Split Decision opens in former Renegade Kitchen location

  • Changes coming to Leon Ave.
  • Owner and head chef met working at local brewery
  • Split Decisions focused on locally sourced food

A new downtown restaurant not only aspires to serve Kelowna’s best burger in 2022, but change the perception of its neighbourhood.

Split Decisions Craft Beer & Burger Bar opens to the public this week on Leon Avenue in the former Renegade Kitchen location. That restaurant was forced closed by Interior Health for violating public health orders and later put up for sale.

“No doubt, the perception of Leon is not great. [But] I think we’re going to have no issues here,” part owner Chris Broom told Kelowna10.

“I think we might even pave the way to change the perception of this street.”

He said three new high-rise towers proposed for Leon Ave. may also boost the image the street, which has a reputation as an area with a high rate of homelessness and drug use.

Broom is from Melbourne, Australia, and has lived in Canada for about four years. He said he comes from deep hospitality roots, following in the footsteps of his father.

The name, Split Decision, is inspired by a boxing movie Broom watched with his dad. He also felt it would be a great play-on-words for anyone indecisive about which restaurant to dine at.

Broom is helped by head chef Shain Empey. They met working together at Unleashed Brewing.

Broom told Empey, if he followed through on his aspirations to buy the Leon Ave. business, he wanted Empey as his head chef.

“I was like, ‘no way,’” Empey said with a laugh. “Next thing you know, here we are. It’s a dream come true, my first shot at the big time and I’m looking forward to it.”

Empey said he’s worked in the restaurant business for 26 years. He left his job at UBCO to lead the new kitchen.

The restaurant serves a diverse menu, which includes special features like the Italian Stallion, which includes deep fried mozzarella and charcuterie meat, a Hawaiian themed offering with pineapple, alongside classic burgers.

The restaurants burgers are called smash patties to reflect the technique used to cook them. The already thin meat is pressed and slapped on the grill, giving it a crispier texture.

Split Decision has a strong local focus; the beer is sourced from Okanagan craft breweries, the hot sauce is from Revelstoke, buns are baked at It’s a Bakery, and the all meat and produce are local.

Even the artwork inside, both a large mural and celebrity paintings, are made by artists in Kelowna.

“If people didn’t support local, we wouldn’t have survived,” Broom said, referring a food truck he operated during the height of the pandemic. “We want to give back and continue to support local businesses.”

Published 2022-01-11 by David Hanson

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