Hoppe’s Garden Bistro!
It has been a little while since I have done a food write up and I’m particularly excited about this one because the restaurant is a long time Central Coast favorite and the food is amazing! Hoppe’s Garden Bistro, located in the coastal town of Cayucos, has been serving word-class food for over 20 years and has been considered the number one restaurant on the Central Coast!
A couple weeks back I stepped into Hoppe’s for the first time (believe it or not) and met with Jeff Tolan who manages the Restaurant. After discussing and tasting a line-up of Castoro wines, Jeff decided to bring on the Zinfandel Zinfusion by the glass! I couldn’t have been happier about Jeff’s choice of Zinfusion and more importantly couldn’t wait to come try the food I had been hearing so much about!
Last week, on a particularly beautiful coastal evening, my girlfriend Lauren and I went to Hoppe’s for dinner and the experience was amazing from start to finish. First of all, the drive down the Highway 1 to Cayucos was gorgeous, as it was a blue-sky day with the sun beginning to set over the ocean. When we arrived at Hoppe’s Jeff greeted us at the door and took us to a table in the window with a beautiful view of the ocean.
To get things started we ordered a couple glasses of local white wine along with the asparagus appetizer plate. When the asparagus arrived we knew we were in for a treat as such a simple dish was full of flavor. After the asparagus we moved on to the Cayucos Red Abalone appetizer and let me tell you, it was absolutely amazing! The small piece of abalone was smothered with a rich cream sauce that had just the right amount of everything, including mango and macadamia nuts!
Now the time had come for a couple glasses of Zinfusion and our entrees! Making a decision on what to order was really tough as there were so many amazing things to choose from. We decided, after heavy debate, to share the hand-made fettuccine with smoked chicken and mascarpone and the fire grilled New York Steak with wild mushrooms and caramelized onions. Not only were both dishes absolutely delectable, the combination with Zinfusion was perfect!
After finishing up our main dishes we took a moment to let the food settle and gaze out the window at the disappearing horizon. If you’re ever in the area or just want to go try something new (or revisit something old) don’t hesitate to visit Hoppe’s. The food is wonderful, the service is great and they carry some of the best wines around!
Cheers,
Luke
