What's next for Hopland?
I wrote the following awhile back but somehow it got posted to the Web of Life blog instead of this one. But here it is:
The Hopland Inn restaurant and bar, closed for the month of January, did not reopen in February and I understand that while the hotel is open, the restaurant and bar will remain closed. That, coupled with the closure of the Shotgun Restaurant at the end of 2007 is really a shame. I understand that the Shotgun Restaurant will be available for parties and special events but will not reopen as a nightly venue.
All of this is depressing to Hoplanders who have come to enjoy - apparently not quite often enough - having two high quality restaurants in town.
The Hopland Inn has had recent history of trouble staying open. New owners come and go, engendering lots of hope and good will and soon leaving disappointment and bewilderment behind.
I have to say that the New Year's Eve meal I had at the Hopland Inn (to the tune of $250 for two and we brought our own wine) was, to be kind, a bit ambitious for their young chef. I won't go into the details, but if that's the kind of food they were producing in the past six months then I'm not surprised business dropped off. But they tried hard and had a fabulous venue to work with and tried to feature local wines and organic food. (Although organic for me is not as important as tasty and fresh no matter how simple.)
Lawson's Station I thought always had very good food, but it lacked ambiance. The restaurant needed a makeover by a good designer. The service there was great though. And they also had a good local wine selection.
I was walking my dog back behind Lawson's Station and the Hopland Inn the other day and realized that both hotels would have been perfect for a revitalized train system along Highway 101. There's a train station (now the fire station) and two beautiful hotels with great back door presence just waiting for passengers to disembark.
Why are places like the Hopland Inn and Lawson's Station so hard to keep open?
Now, Hopland is looking a bit downtrodden again. Bright spots include the new Sip! Mendocino wine tasting room, which, with the other tasting rooms in town and the new Cheesecake Mama cafe are keeping things going (the Bluebird as ever is the best breakfast on the north coast).
What will spring bring?