Joanne and Chuck Frowein, co-owners of Relax! Grillin’ and Chillin’, are expanding their restaurant portfolio to include a locale in downtown Hollister. The couple, also partners with another family in running the Hollister Hills Taproom and Brewery on McCray Street, said they were researching locations near the city center when they heard Sheila and Bob Stevens were looking for someone to buy the Knife and Fork Café.
The Stevens opened the downtown restaurant in 2008, eventually expanding the seating to an outdoor patio area along an alley off San Benito Street. They will continue to run Heavenly Bakery and She’s clothing store, but the Froweins planned to take over full operation of the restaurant within a matter of weeks.
“We actually wanted to be downtown for a while,” said Joanne Frowein. “We said it would be great to have a restaurant row and get some boutique shops. We learned there was an opportunity for a great location with a good operation.”
She said the restaurant will be renamed to Grillin’ and Chillin’ but it will not be a carbon copy of the couple’s first restaurant opened on the outskirts of town between Hollister and San Juan Bautista on San Juan Road.
“We will be taking some of our signature dishes, but we will also create some new dishes for the downtown area,” she said.
Grillin’ and Chillin’ opened in 2009 with traditional bar fare on the menu such as chips and dip; hot wings; zucchini fries; fried calamari; and beer-battered, whole mushrooms served with a chipotle ranch dipping sauce. Beer has been a centerpiece of the restaurant, which hosts craft beer releases every Tuesday that draw a regional crowd.
“But a lot of people don’t realize we do steak, seafood and pasta,” her husband said, noting that the downtown menu will offer items that will appeal to current Knife and Fork customers.
The downtown location will serve lunch and dinner, with the couple hoping to relieve some of the pressure from the San Juan Road location.
“We are off the freeway so if we can’t seat someone, we feel really bad,” she said. “Sometimes we have two-hour waits.”
He said they visit a lot of places to discover new craft brews so they try new restaurants on their travels, which can inspire new dishes. She said sometimes seeing something at the farmers market will help in creating a new dish.
The windows at the former Knife and Fork Café and covered in brown butcher paper, with the new name of the restaurant posted in the window as the couple completes renovations. They said they were hoping to open by mid-June and they said they will be transforming the restaurant to include a little more of a bar scene, with a lounge. He also said he would like to sell draft beer and they want to take advantage of the courtyard.
They started interviews for what they believe will be 15 positions at the downtown restaurant, with plans to keep some of the existing staff from the Knife and Fork Café.
“We will definitely give the downtown location its own identity,” she said. “We have a great team.”
