Hope & Olive, Greenfield, MA

Were Sean not to have family in Greenfield, MA, I’m pretty sure I would never have gone there, nor would I ever go there again. Where is Greenfield, anyway? It’s north of Amherst along Interstate 91, and I can’t imagine a reason to stop there unless I were running out of gas on the interstate. That’s not to say there’s no reason to ever go there- It’s a quaint old town with an historic downtown, is surrounded by farms, and has a few good restaurants. It was never on my must-visit map, but it’s now certainly a place I’ll wind up again. And, if you’re traveling that way, I’d like to suggest a detour to Greenfield to dine at Hope & Olive. Hope & Olive was on the top of our “to-eat-at” list since we started planning our 1500 mile east coast eating and drinking tour over the summer. Sean is friends with one of the owners and sometimes there’s nothing better than dining at a friend’s place. We (Sean, his sister, her boyfriend, and I) walked in on a Saturday night to a packed place that had an hour wait. No big deal for us. His friend also has a place around the block, Mag Pie, where we enjoyed some apps and cocktails.

We returned an hour later and were seated just in time for me to order a local cider from the tap.

Sean and I have become quite accustomed to ordering a variety of small plates to get a taste of each establishment we visit. So, as usual, I approached the Hope & Olive menu assuming we’d order a number of appetizers and a few entrees to share. Here is my only “complaint” if you will- The portions are incredibly large for such a sophisticated establishment. The appetizers at Hope & Olive are the size of entrees at most places I dine, and the entrees are easily split by two people.  We ordered four appetizers and three entrees for the four of us and no one could finish their food. In my opinion, Hope & Olive could reduce their portion size by at least 1/3 and people wouldn’t notice. They’d save on food costs and doggie bags, for sure. But, as a diner, not a chef nor a restauranteur, I’m not always the most credible source- I just have opinions.

That said- here’s what we enjoyed-

A crostini with Hen of the Woods mushrooms, shallots, herbs, and parmesan.

A field greens salad with fresh orange, cucumber, olive, feta, mint, and vinaigrette.

Tempura batter fried veggies.

Korean BBQ beef ribs with kim chi, sweet potato salad, tempura oyster mushrooms, in chili garlic hoisin sauce.

Those were our appetizers along with some bread. I was full by this point and just had a bite of my entree, which was actually another appetizer.

I went for the crab cakes special that evening with peach, hazelnut, and endive salad and lemon caper cream. I am still bummed I couldn’t make room in my belly for these crab cakes, but I was way too full.

Sean ordered the Indonesian tofu with jasmine rice, chili chick peas, cauliflower, carrots, summer squash, pickled cucumbers, and spicy peanut yogurt sauce.

I don’t recall ever having peanut yogurt sauce over in Indonesia, but peanut sauce is certainly very common. I had one bite of this dish which was enough for me to know it wasn’t a successful vegetarian dish. Hope & Olive, like almost every single restaurant that doesn’t specialize in vegetarian food, came close on this one, but offered a huge slab of flavorless fried tofu that needed at least another ladle full of sauce to be able to disguise. I’ve been saying it for years and hope to see it happen one day- Chefs- please, please, please- if you’re going to serve tofu like this, freeze it, thaw it, press it, and then marinate it in something and it will suck up all this amazing flavor and have an incredibly good texture from the freezing process. Then you can bread it and fry it or bake it or grill it or whatever you’d like to do. Most packaged tofu is just not good, and just because someone is a vegetarian doesn’t mean they like the flavorless blob that can be tofu. Finesse it a little and you’ll be really pleased with the outcome. I promise. But, I digress…

I didn’t get a good photo of the roasted turkey sandwich Sean’s sister ordered, nor the entree her boyfriend ordered, so my photos stop here. But, I really enjoyed our experience at Hope & Olive look forward to their success… especially because that means I know we’ll have a great place to dine next time we’re in Greenfield.

Hope & Olive

44 Hope Street (on the intersection of Hope and Olive, actually)

Greenfield, MA 01301

413-774-3150