RECENTLY SOLD
HILLTOP RESTAURANT
Novato / Marin County
Restaurant Realty recently sold Hilltop Restaurant located in Novato in Marin County.
The Hilltop Restaurant and Bar has been a landmark in Novato since 1892 when it was built. The cafe perched on the hill at 850 Lamont Ave, Novato was first the private home of the Hayden family, after whom nearby Hayden street is named.
In the late 1950s it became a family restaurant named Maison Marin. During the 1950s, two restaurants used the quarters: the Hilltop Cafe coffee shop, and Sweden House, a smorgasbord restaurant. Then the white-gabled house became the Novato Moose Lodge. It opened in 1979 as the Hilltop Café and since then has operated as number of fine dining operations. The restaurant was completely renovated in 2010 and operated as Hilltop 1892 through 2019.
In the next few months the restaurant will become the second location for the very successful Ayawaska of Petaluma, which is home to fresh authentic Peruvian cuisine with a special modern twist. The owners will be remodeling the restaurant to enhance its already open airy feeling by opening up the front of the restaurant with large doors to enhance the customer’s already fabulous panoramic view. Aywaska’s mission it to provide a world class dining experience into the rich and vibrant taste of Peru, A profusion of Peruvian food has made once-exotic foods like lomo saltado, Pisco sours and giant kernels of Choclo (Peruvian corn) a more familiar sight. A large menu hits all the high points, including several types of fish ceviche, yuccas, quinoa, beef dishes and preparations that showcase the region’s melting pot of cuisines from China and Japan to Spain, France and indigenous peoples. Sweet, salty, savory and spicy flavors intermingle in each dish thanks to corn, raisins, yellow peppers and piquant spices. The ceviche’s have a sharp tang of citrus that makes the mix of raw fish, corn, sweet potato, red onion that makes this marinade so memorable. Pisco-spiked cocktails made with the much-loved brandy of Peru are topped with egg whites, mixed with lime and served up icy cold are delightful. They also feature a number of island tonics made with rum, mezcal and gin.