ored with the thought of spending another evening at the familiar used and abused trendite spots, we opted to turn things up a notch with some good old fashioned sophistication. So, we turned our focus to Tivoli’s, an upscale restaurant that pairs wine with Westcoast Cuisine.

Now, a restaurant that sits within the confines of a hot, new hotel doesn’t need much else going for it. But Tivoli’s at the Executive Hotel Vintage Park, doesn’t rest on the laurels on its hip location, instead offering a sophisticated atmosphere and a niche market. The hotel that once was a budget class hostel has been transformed into a 4-star hotel. I’m a fan of hotel restaurants because they give you freedom to use your imagination - switch off your cell phone and pretend you’re on vacation, some remote place with no reception; nothing like a vacation to get you in the mood, but it’s hard to do within the shrieks of that PDA.

Standard fine dining furniture and décor constantly reminded that I was in a hotel - there was something about the look of it that screamed “tourist.” This could be due to my strolling throughout the hotel trying to find the restaurant (it’s tucked in a corner of the second floor).

Upon arrival, I discovered that the food was, in fact, delicious, and that much effort goes into matching the wine. Tivoli’s partners with 35 wineries from around the Pacific Northwest, you can taste a variety of wine, most from the Okanagan. The menu focuses on West Coast cuisine and incorporates seafood, fresh platters, steak, lamb and veal. We went the West Coast route of sharing our meal, ordering the Market Fresh Clams and Mussels ($9.25), which came with ginger, garlic and lemongrass. Other starters include a baby spinach salad, and a wild mushroom soup served with a parmesan crisp.

For the main course, the Seafood Feast ($21.95) arrived with a sampling of roasted shrimp, whiskey smoked salmon, fresh clams and mussels – you really have to be in a serious seafood mood. Other mains include the Black Iron Seared Prawns, which comes with roasted root vegetables and shoestring yam (suggested pairing: Jackson Triggs Proprietor's Edition Chardonnay).