Press/Reviews

Hartford Magazine
2hopewell

Located in a beautiful old house on the corner of Main and Hopewell in South Glastonbury is 2hopewell. As we pulled up to park at the rear of the building, we noticed a patio nestled behind a rock wall, where scattered tables and bright umbrellas drew our attention. A welcoming stone walk lined with bushes and flowering plants led through the parking lot to the entrance. We immediately felt at ease and eager for a delicious meal.

Inside, a young lady greeted us with a warm smile and asked if we would like to be seated in the dining room or on the lower level, which opened up to the outside patio. We chose the main dining area. The décor was simple, with a mix of country style and contemporary touches, soft blue and white walls, a wide plank floor and thick barn beams.

A young lady approached our table and answered any and all questions regarding the menu items and the wine list. The wine list was simple, but featured a variety, including a handful of sparkling wines, from all over 
the world.

Our dinner began with three appetizers: lobster spring rolls, Maryland crab cakes and tuna ceviche. I thoroughly enjoyed the lobster roll. The wrapper was light and crispy, surrounding pieces of sweet lobster meat and cream cheese, with a perfect drizzle of chipolte aioli for a little kick. My husband is not a big fan of any kind of cheese combined with shellfish, but he had to admit that these little morsels were tasty. The Maryland crab cakes were just that – two round cakes of pure crabmeat, held together by a small portion of panko crust in a red pepper yogurt and caramel-ized onion aioli. 


There was a little delay with our third appetizer, so the server brought over a peppercorn-- seared filet carpaccio appetizer that must have been ordered erroneously. Thank goodness for human error! It was a platter of thinly sliced seared filet with the perfect amount of lemon caper and parmesan dressing. The capers were also lightly fried, which gave the dish more texture and compensated for the dry parmesan flakes. Quite frequently, this dish is served with some type of drizzled oil, so my husband appreciated the change of 2hopewell’s carpaccio.

The tuna ceviche turned out to be the chef’s own personal take on the dish that, typically, has fish marinated in lime juice. Here, chopped pieces of raw tuna are quickly tossed with cilantro, lime juice and greens, served in a martini glass with a spicy sauce. My husband was skeptical at first but was pleasantly taken by the creative change and commented that the chef appeared to be using quality tuna.

Our salad course consisted of the beet salad and the mozzarella tower. The tower is a common salad for this time of year, but the key is to get the freshest tomatoes and mozzarella and then dress them perfectly with oils and herbs. 2hopewell does it right, all the way to the placement of the whole fresh basil on top. When the beet salad arrived, we were once again taken by the subtle twist that this chef puts on traditional dishes. There were chopped red and sliced yellow beets with white beans, small pieces of candied pecans and crumbled goat cheese with a house balsamic dressing. I couldn’t stop “scooping” the tender sweet combination of pecans and beets.

We took a break before our entrées and I decided to take a stroll around the restaurant. Another dining area was located near the bathrooms. The quaint but roomy bar area on the lower level featured a great table for eight located between two barn pillars in the middle of the room. I could imagine myself there with friends, having a casual dinner from the bar menu.

I noticed that no matter where I went, someone was always asking if they could get me something. The attentiveness of the staff is refreshing.

I made my way back to the main dining room just in time for our dinners to be served. Our guest chose the pork tenderloin medallions with Yukon gold mashed potatoes, green beans and wild mushroom demi. The presentation exactly matched the description on the menu. The pork was simply presented and absolutely wonderful. The wild mushroom demi was flawlessly seasoned and the meat was cooked to order.

I was very pleased with my selection. It was a pistachio and panko encrusted halibut, pan seared, and served over mandarin orange risotto with baby carrots and green beans. The risotto was delicately flavored with mandarin and perfectly prepared. The halibut was also cooked carefully, and the pistachio crust gave it a nice texture.

My husband had his favorite dish, the braised short rib of beef. It was served over spinach and ricotta gnocchi, smoked chorizo and blistered grape tomatoes in a mushroom buerre rouge, topped with fried leeks. This dish was a little more complicated than the other two, and at first glance, you might think there was a little too much going on. In our dining experiences, my husband has found few establishments that actually braise the meat to the ultimate tenderness. 2hopewell accomplished this hands down. The beef was so tender that it fell apart on the fork and melted in your mouth. The gnocchi were cooked precisely and the chorizo gave the mushroom buerre rouge sauce just the right amount of additional flavor.

Our guest has an unforgiving sweet tooth and insisted on numerous desserts, and who are we to argue with a guest? We ordered the German chocolate brownie sundae with coconut and caramel, the chocolate mousse and the drunken pear. All three were delectable, but if we had to select one as the table favorite, it would be the brownie sundae. Our guest said she should have had dessert first in order to have enough room to finish this heavenly creation.

Throughout the first and second courses, I noticed a gentleman constantly running back and forth from the kitchen to the dining room, delivering food. I initially thought that he was the manager, but the hostess explained that he was one of two owners – brothers who renovated the restaurant and reopened it last November. I later noticed another gentleman arrive to assist with the continuous business streaming through the doors. I was truly impressed with this lost art of running your own business. It gives the guests an immediate level of comfort because the owners care enough to make sure their guests are being given the utmost service and attention.

And the overall verdict? Unquestionably a four-star rest-aurant, 2hopewell proves that delicious food can be combined with comfortable and affordable dining.

This has become one of our favorite spots for dining, snack-ing and casual gatherings with our friends and family. The owners of 2hopewell are the little guys who will make the big boys shudder. HM