Dining Out

It’s lunchtime at Downer Avenue’s new Cafe Hollander.The young waitstaff, dressed in stylish logoed T-shirts, hustle from the tables to the bar to the kitchen upstairs. The place is filling up – young hipsters, a few baby strollers, casually dressed boomers, the occasional local celeb (Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra conductor Andreas Delfs).

Is Hollander, brother to Trocadero and Hi Hat Lounge, the longed-for replacement for 1980s/’90s icon The Coffee Trader?

I want to say yes. Hollander is a shot of adrenaline on Downer Avenue – the Downer Avenue that used to be the East Side lane of hipness. Though not since the Trader closed in the late 1990s.

The inspiration for Hollander’s décor and menu is the Dutch/Belgian café scene. It also has a bit of sibling emulation – a comfortable atmosphere, lights on more than off (7 a.m. until bar time, 2 a.m.) and, despite the pseudo-European food, a pretty straightforward menu. Even co-owner Mike Eitel, part of the crew of über-successful entrepreneurs who formed the restaurant group Diablos Rojos, thinks about the restaurant that once lived across the street.

“It’s like The Coffee Trader on steroids,” says Eitel.

The new restaurant’s ambiance isn’t drastically different from its predecessor in this space, Gil’s Café. However, it is larger. The Diablos knocked out the wall between the optical shop that was next door, creating a smoking dining room with exposed brick and a wood floor that matches the original Gil’s side. The ring-shaped bar keeps the two rooms integrated. And now there’s an open ceiling between the first and second floors. Hollander has a clean, modish look that, while not a Trocadero clone, still follows a similar formula.

The food is on the formula track, too. As at Trocadero, it’s serviceable – some good and some average choices. The big item here is frites, as in French fries. In Holland, people eat them with mayo. When you order Hollander frites, medium-thin and soft-crisp fries, you can order ketchup, mayo or one of 16 other sauces ($4). I prefer the horseradish mayo and as a left-field sauce, the sweet, spicy Thai peanut.

The soups feel

right for a raw winter day. A spoon could stand up straight in the bowl of smoky flavored split pea ($3.50 and $7). And the creamy chicken curry, the soup du jour ($3 and $6), was a thick, stick-to-the-ribs pleasure.

The Belgian sliders – a trio of mini burgers with the tell-tale flavor and grate marks of the grill – are pretty good, topped with melted white cheddar and ale-braised onions ($8.50). The pizza Margherita is OK, a small thin-crust pie topped with mozzarella, tomato and slivered basil ($8.50).

The two stars of the menu are the Tulip turkey burger – a juicy patty whose flavor language spells peppers and onion ($9) – and the blackberry turkey sandwich, with its whip-smart combination of roast turkey, Gruyère cheese, vocal (but not screaming) giardiniera peppers and blackberry jam on a toasted baguette ($9). Both go wonderfully with one of the Belgian beers.

Overpriced and underwhelming, the Hollander cheese plate had a couple of disappointing cheeses (a Rondelé-like spread and basic smoked gouda) with fruit, coarse-grain mustard, cornichons, summer sausage and some crackers pierced into a hunk of baguette ($17.50). Chicken Leffe is a little like a casserole – the tender boneless bird laid on mashed potatoes with carrots, pearl onions, shiitake mushrooms and peas ($17). “Leffe” is the Belgian beer that gives the gravy a bit of panache, and for 17 bucks, I’d rather have the chicken than the cheese plate.

I haven’t ordered Hollander’s “Coffee Trader potato noshers” yet. But it’s clear the café is channeling an icon from the past – which didn’t have the best food, but man, did it have atmosphere. It worked for Downer then. It’ll probably work for it now.

Cafe Hollander, 2608 N. Downer Ave., 963-6366.
Hours: Mon-Thurs 7 a.m.-10 p.m.; Fri 7 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sat 8 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sun 8 a.m.-10 p.m. (bar open daily until 2 a.m.)
Prices: appetizers $3.50-$11; sandwiches $8-$10; soups/salads $3-$11.50; main courses $14-$24; desserts $7-$9.
Service: young, friendly, a little green.
Dress: Don’t sweat it.
Handicap Access: separate ramp entrance.
Credit cards: M V A DS.
Nonsmoking section: yes.
Reservations: generally not necessary.