SPOTLIGHTING A NEW STAR
Hopkins dazzles early and often
HOPKINS
★★ ★ out of four $$$
Address: 5626 Monkland Ave. (Between Marcil and Oxford Aves.) Phone: 514-379-1275 Website: restauranthopkins.com Open: Dinner, Tues.-Fri. and Sun. 5:30 to 11 p.m., Sat. 6 to 11 p.m.; brunch, Sat.-Sun. 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Licensed: Yes Credit cards: All major Wheelchair access: Yes Parking: On the street Vegetarian friendly: Not especially Reservations: Essential Price range: Small plates $15-$37, desserts $8-$12, three-course tasting menu $60, five-course tasting menu $80.
On any city’s restaurant beat, the same chefs’ names tend to pop up over and over. I’ve been analyzing the cooking of several chefs for so long now that I feel I know them better than certain members of my family. That’s why it’s always so exciting to come across brand spanking new cooking talent.
I still remember my first meals from chefs like Derek Dammann, Antonin Mousseau-Rivard and Fisun Ercan, who may be stars today but who entered the Montreal chef scene under the radar. There’s this great feeling that comes when plowing into dinner from an unknown chef when, at about the third-dish mark, you realize you’re on to something special. Next thing you know, you and your dining companions exchange knowing glances, pull out the ol’ smartphone to take pictures of the pork belly, and someone pipes up and says: “What did you say was the name of the chef here?”
I’m sure that scenario has played out often in the eight weeks since Hopkins opened, and the answer would be Liam Hopkins. (The restaurant is named after its co-owner/chef.) Located on Monkland Ave., in the locale that last housed Lucille’s Oyster Dive, Hopkins is a welcome addition to the, shall we say, somewhat lacking N.D.G. restaurant scene.
Though the name on the door is that of the chef, his partner in this endeavour is Nicolina Servello, who works as a restaurant creative director — meaning she styles food, caters, organizes food events, etc. At the end of July, this dynamic duo also opened Porco, a more casual space just down the street featuring pork-centred Italian cuisine.
Hopkins is most definitely fine dining, complete with swish decor, enticing menu and superb cocktails. After eating in so many laid-back restaurants of late, how nice it was to be sitting in a seriously beautiful space. Caramelcoloured chairs, pearl grey banquettes, a mirror-backed bar, brass chandeliers and tall windows make this high-ceilinged room quite the eyeful in what is probably the plainest building on the street. Waitresses wear navy blue dresses and the ones who served us couldn’t have been more enthusiastic. We began with three cocktails, all good; the best was the pisco sour, easily one of the most bracing I’ve ever sipped.
The menu follows the neverendingly popular sharing-plate format, and the focus is more meat-centric than vegetablecentric. (Of the dozen on offer, only two are meat-free.) Duck is omnipresent on this menu, which is fine by me, as duck rarely disappoints in the hands of a talented chef. And after tasting nine of Hopkins’s plates, I have no doubt this is one talented chef.
We began with a beef tartare and a bone-marrow flan — both fabulous. Hopkins has a knack for plate presentations, with everything looking as good as it tastes.
The tartare was described as “Wellington,” as it was layered with a chicken liver mousse, as well as duck prosciutto and sautéed wild mushrooms. I enjoyed every bite, especially the basic beef tartare with its ideal texture and seasoning. Caramelized like a crème brûlée, the bone-marrow flan was surrounded by slices of smoked duck magret as well as crispy duck skin, pea tendrils and croutons, with a bit of veal jus alongside. What a treat, especially as the bone marrow was velvety and the duck was only lightly smoked.
The next dish, a tuna carpaccio niçoise, was just as brilliant. On this especially pretty plate, slices of red tuna were surrounded by niçoise lettuce, thin green beans, quail eggs, tarragon aioli, radish and pea tendrils, as well as confit potatoes and chips. I like a good twist on a classic, and this one was perfect, with the fresh raw tuna zuzzed up by the aioli et al.
Hopkins also makes a variation of fish and chips, but his take uses a single scallop — seared, not deep-fried, and served with a crisp “popcorn” polenta, fennel and apple slaw, truffled potato velouté, tartar sauce and a sprinkling of corn crumble. There was a lot going on in this plate, verging on too much, but the flavours were lovely and that scallop was just so luscious.
The last savoury course began with the dish of the night: duck ravioli with duck thigh confit, duck jus, duck pancetta, crisp confit duck skin. In a word: wow! I loved the four layers of duck flavour in play, and the pasta envelope was just the right thickness. The chef passed by our table, and when I told him I enjoyed the dish, he replied: “I spend my whole day making ravioli.” No kidding.
I’m sure he also prepares his fair share of lobster, as it is another must. Bathed in a lobster bisque, the large pieces of butterpoached lobster were served with white asparagus and lobster risotto chip. Tender as all getout, the lobster was scooped up by three of us at the table in all of 30 seconds. So delicious.
After all this savoury loveliness, I had high expectations for desserts. Alas, though good, they fell into the category of trying too hard, beginning with a deconstructed carrot cake made with squares of halloumi cheese, carrot chips, tuiles, blobs of this, dabs of that. Every bite was good alone, but this Salvador Dali carrot cake couldn’t compete with the original.
A matcha cake with rhubarb, spun toffee and basil leaves also scored points for effort, but it’s not a dessert I’d want to eat again. As for the molten chocolate cake with coffee foam, it was the only dish of the night that didn’t look like much, and although the coffee/chocolate pairing should have been a hit, it was kind of dull. Better-quality chocolate would make a world of difference.
Hopkins is a new restaurant, so certain elements (beyond the desserts) need fine tuning. As much as I appreciated our waitress, her endless inquiries about the food were over the top, and she needs more wine training. Either that, or hire a sommelier — not an outrageous idea, considering the high level of cuisine. The wine list could also use sharpening. It’s a nice list, but on the expensive side and short, so budget choices are limited. And as much as I relished the cocktails, why not even one bottle of rosé on offer — especially in midsummer?
But these are easy fixes, and there is already so much to enjoy here. There’s even a certain slickness about the place, as though they had followed the playbook of how to open a restaurant to the letter. And that’s praise, not a criticism. So soon out of the gates, Hopkins is already a winner.