{"id":2446787,"date":"2019-07-25T14:52:42","date_gmt":"2019-07-25T20:52:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=310082"},"modified":"2019-07-25T14:52:42","modified_gmt":"2019-07-25T20:52:42","slug":"hops-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/hops-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"HOPS Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.545\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-310082-503\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/07\/HOPS-EAT-Summer2019-21-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/07\/HOPS-EAT-Summer2019-21-1024x683.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Jeremy Wallace\/The Aspen Times | Royale with cheese at HOPS Culture in Aspen.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-2\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"7\">\n<p><strong>Royale with cheese at HOPS Culture in Aspen.<\/strong><br \/>Jeremy Wallace\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/07\/HOPS-EAT-Summer2019-21-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Royale with cheese at HOPS Culture in Aspen.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/07\/HOPS-EAT-Summer2019-7-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/07\/HOPS-EAT-Summer2019-7-1024x683.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Jeremy Wallace\/The Aspen Times | Falafel wrap made with chickpea fritters, cucumber Tzatziki, arugula, tomato, onion feta salad, Harissa, grilled flatbread with herb fries tossed with chimichurri, parmesan and basil aioli\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"2.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"16\">\n<p><strong>Falafel wrap made with chickpea fritters, cucumber Tzatziki, arugula, tomato, onion feta salad, Harissa, grilled flatbread with herb fries tossed with chimichurri, parmesan and basil aioli<\/strong><br \/>Jeremy Wallace\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/07\/HOPS-EAT-Summer2019-7-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Falafel wrap made with chickpea fritters, cucumber Tzatziki, arugula, tomato, onion feta salad, Harissa, grilled flatbread with herb fries tossed with chimichurri, parmesan and basil aioli\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/07\/HOPS-EAT-Summer2019-9-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/07\/HOPS-EAT-Summer2019-9-683x1024.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Jeremy Wallace\/The Aspen Times | Jalapeno mac n' cheese with caramelized onions\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-2\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"7\">\n<p><strong>Jalapeno mac n&#8217; cheese with caramelized onions<\/strong><br \/>Jeremy Wallace\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/07\/HOPS-EAT-Summer2019-9-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Jalapeno mac n' cheese with caramelized onions\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/magazines\/eat\/hops-culture\/?#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/magazines\/eat\/hops-culture\/?#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Local gastropub HOPS Culture has provided a staple of elevated comfort food combined with some of the choicest seating in Aspen. Located in the center of the pedestrian mall, a combination of outdoor patio space and a windowed bar near the entrance provide two sets of attractive options for grabbing a seat, depending on your preference.<\/p>\n<p>Inside, the reason for the name HOPS Culture becomes apparent. With a row of taps and a full wall of refrigerated bottles, the selections are nearly endless, and any drink lover is able to while away a weekend on the beer alone.<\/p>\n<p>The food choices are equally as hard to decide. The menu offers recognizable comfort eats with added elevations and just enough change to keep things interesting. Pub standards are at the forefront, like their \u201cRoyale with cheese,\u201d a classic burger which includes fresh Colorado beef, or mac n\u2019 cheese, which general manager John Hebson points out has been a staple of HOPS Culture since its inception. They\u2019ve spent years tweaking and perfecting the simple dish. The current iteration keeps it to only a few ingredients, with creamy noodles being paired with crunchy green pepper and caramelized onions for sweetness.<\/p>\n<p>However, recent restaurant addition and longtime-local chef Robbie Kostrba has taken it upon himself to update other aspects of the menu, adding in twists with local ingredients and an onsite herb garden. A prime example is their chicken n\u2019 waffles. A soul food classic, Kostrba includes simple ingredients and adds in hot sauce. The small twist results in a masterful flavor meld, as fluffy waffles gain heat and crispy chicken absorbs the Vermont maple syrup.<\/p>\n<p>For those tending towards healthier options, HOPS hits the spot as well. Making sure to have a number of vegetarian dishes, they include a variety of salads and an unexpected highlight in the superfood bowl. A trove of all things healthy and delicious, diced cucumber, almonds and edamame add crunch to the typical salad greens while beets and a citrus-honey vinaigrette keep it sweet.<\/p>\n<p>Through it all, Kostrba and HOPS Culture are looking to improve and tweak their menu. \u201cWe\u2019re moving forward with a lot of new things,\u201d Hebson said. \u201cWe\u2019re really excited with where we\u2019re headed.\u201d With brighter things on the horizon, HOPS already delivers variety and quality, making it the perfect place to spend an afternoon in the heart of Aspen.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/magazines\/eat\/hops-culture\/?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Royale with cheese at HOPS Culture in Aspen.Jeremy Wallace\/The Aspen Times Falafel wrap made with chickpea fritters, cucumber Tzatziki, arugula, tomato, onion feta salad, Harissa, grilled flatbread with herb fries tossed with chimichurri, parmesan and basil aioliJeremy Wallace\/The Aspen Times Jalapeno mac n&#8217; cheese with caramelized onionsJeremy Wallace\/The Aspen Times Show CaptionsHide Captions Local gastropub [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2446787","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-22 01:17:02","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2446787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2446787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2446787\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2446787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2446787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2446787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}