Hops at 84 East rolls out new menu

Steve Van Dommelen and Gina Kammeraad at Hops at 84 East
Steve Van Dommelen and Gina Kammeraad at Hops at 84 East

By David Hoekman

Gina Kammeraad is excited to be part of the next big thing at Hops at 84 East.

The new general manager of the bar and restaurant in downtown Holland said a new menu will be unveiled in July.

The new menu is an outgrowth of Hops at 84 East’s goal to be the best craft beer bar in Michigan. What sets the bar apart, she said, is that it offers lots of really good, unique brews not available in other establishments.

“Our next step is to change our menu and have that match the concept we currently have going on in the bar,” Kammeraad said.

Signature items like brick oven pizza and baked spaghetti pie will remain.

“But they’re going to be a little bit reinvented,” she said. “For everything else, there are going to be changes as far as the quality and the style is concerned. It’s going to be a lot more craft — more simplistic.”

According to Kammeraad, chef Bob Repp, who started earlier this year, brings new ideas to the table. Repp specializes in fish and seafood, and he  hopes to change the menu three times a year.

“We have a great foundation,” Kammeraad said. “With some fine tuning, it will be something people love even more than they already do.”

It started with beer

Hops presents a stunning variety of craft brews. Of the bar’s 70 taps — yes, 70 — 62 are devoted to beer and eight dispense wine.

Steve the Beer Guy, aka Steve Van Dommelen, has the enviable job of finding new, unique and rare craft beers for the bar.

Bar manager Julie DeHaan also develops barrel-aged cocktails.

Loving local food

Hops at 84 East wants to expand its relationships with local farmers.

Bill Curnick in Zeeland grows the heirloom tomatoes the restaurant uses six months of the year. All potatoes come from Zeeland-based Visser Farms and are fresh cut daily. n

Hops at 84 East
84 E. Eighth St.
Holland
616-396-8484
hops84east.com


Back in West Michigan

Gina Kammeraad at Hops at 84 East
Gina Kammeraad at Hops at 84 East

Hops at 84 East general manager Gina Kammeraad has been on the job since early May.

Kammeraad grew up in Zeeland. For the last nine years she has worked in food and beverage positions outside of Michigan, including owning a restaurant in Chicago and starting a fine-dining restaurant in Nashville.

She is eager to be leading the team at the successor establishment to 84 East, her favorite restaurant when she lived in Zeeland.