Opening Day at The Hollows

Saskatoon has a new restaurant – The Hollows on the corner of Avenue C and 19th Street. One more great reason to visit Riversdale neighbourhood.

I was really looking forward to eating at The Hollows as their website emphasizes that they serve local, seasonal food that is made from scratch. They also have quite a few vegetarian options – thank you!

The chefs are Kristie Peters and Kyle Michael. They’ve been cooking in Vancouver, San Francisco, Amsterdam and Spain and are bringing what they’ve learned to Saskatoon.

I had rice and beans for lunch, one of the standard dishes on The Hollows’ weekend brunch menu. Rice and beans could sound boring; it was anything but.

Everything was made from scratch – from the refried beans to the guacamole and crème fraîche (from organic cream). The rice and beans were topped with two perfectly-cooked eggs; sweet, ripe tomatoes (from Floating Gardens); and a sprinkle of cheese.

I overheard another customer commenting that the buttercup squash soup (with cheddar, pink lady apple and rosemary oil) was the best soup she’d ever eaten.


I was far too full to eat anything more at the time, so I took one of their lemon tarts home with me. The filling was tart and fruity, and it was topped with a generous portion of whipped cream decorated with tiny lemon thyme leaves.

The Hollows is located in the old Golden Dragon restaurant, and they have retained a fair bit of the original décor.

The restaurant is open for brunch from 11 am to 4 pm on Saturdays and Sundays as well as dinner until late. They open from 11:30 am till late on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and they are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

The restaurant has opened with a short menu but will be expanding to the full menu very shortly. The full dinner menu includes a number of small plates (quinoa and squash rings, poutine with truffle mayo, beet salad, soup) as well as large plates (kale-squash gnocchi, ravioli with pork, steelhead trout and short ribs).

There will eventually be a selection of desserts as well (butterscotch pot de crème, poached pear, lemon tart, chocolate pumpkin cake).

The full brunch menu will include breakfast poutine, quinoa oatmeal, rice and beans, flax seabuckthorn pancakes and benny with steelhead trout.

I am looking forward to talking to Christie and Kyle in more detail about their plans for the restaurant. In the meantime, do go and enjoy a meal at The Hollows. You won’t regret it.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I've been thinking about this breakfast poutine all week. I can't wait to try it. Thanks for posting.
November 23, 2011 at 7:48 PM
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