The newest full-service restaurant in Sioux Falls might be attached to a hotel, but the culinary team behind it is aiming to make Cascata a destination unto itself.
To start, the restaurant inside the Canopy by Hilton at The Steel District in downtown Sioux Falls boasts some of the longest hours of any restaurant in town, open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.
In between, executive chef Chris Hodapp has created distinctive breakfast, lunch, dinner and lounge menus that he describes as “Old World Italian cuisine but with a modern touch.”
The restaurant, plus adjacent Torrent Coffee Bar, will open Wednesday afternoon with the rest of the hotel, which now is taking reservations.
Hodapp grew up in southwest Minnesota and spent time during his childhood visiting Sioux Falls. After graduating from culinary school, he spent time in Rochester, Minnesota, working for a large-scale restaurant business that included serving as corporate chef for catering and event venues.
That included operating banquet space for a new Hilton property in downtown Rochester, so when he learned about the Canopy by Hilton in Sioux Falls, “I said: ‘You know what? That’s the job I want.’ And my wife and I knew we were going to move back this direction eventually,” noting that he kept in touch with the Lloyd Companies team for a couple of years before being hired.
“The big draw was my Hilton background and my desire and passion for opening new establishments and leaving my mark on the culinary scene,” he said.
As executive chef, he has created a varied menu for Cascata with local influences from beef sourced through an Aberdeen-area ranch to coffee from Coffea Roasterie, tea from The Spice & Tea Exchange and bread and pastries from Look’s Marketplace.
“The goal is building those location connections and being able to tell those stories to our guests and customers when they stay with us and dine,” he said.
Cascata flows off the hotel’s main lobby, with a lounge area and bar that leads to the dining room adjacent to the Big Sioux River.
“You think Italian and you think pizza, pastas, salads, and we definitely have that, but we’re doing it with a modern twist and doing as much locally as we can,” Hodapp said.
The breakfast menu features omelets, a frittata and breakfast pizza, plus signature dishes like lemon ricotta pancakes and a breakfast take on carbonara — with baked eggs, pecorino, parmesan, garlic and prosciutto.
“We’re making fresh bombolini in house, which is an Italian pastry, so you’ve got the classics but also a fun twist on things,” Hodapp said.
The lunch menu includes a variety of salads, sandwiches, pastas and pizzas, along with entrees such as Atlantic salmon served with cannellini beans, pancetta, garlic, spinach and blistered tomatoes.
“We’re trying to please everybody, so we’ve got a burger, we’ve got Italian sandwiches — a veggie muffuletta, your classic meatball sandwich, some pizzas, and for those who want a lighter lunch, we’ve got salad with an option to add protein for something lighter and quicker,” Hodapp said.
The dinner menu expands on the lunch menu, offering additional pizzas and pastas, along with multiple cuts of chargrilled steak, a Duroc pork chop, halibut and walleye.
“I think the popular dish, based on the tasting we did, will be our cioppino, which is fun and unique. My signature dish when I did my menu tasting was a lobster tortelloni,” Hodapp said.
A lounge menu offers an abbreviated selection of easy-to-eat items, including charcuterie and appetizers.
“And we’ll have desserts available as well,” Hodapp added. “Maybe they had dinner at Ironwood (in the adjacent building) and are coming across to have a drink and dessert, so it’s abbreviated but with a nice selection.”
During patio season, outdoor dining will almost double the restaurant’s capacity to about 300 people and offer views of the Big Sioux River and Falls Park.
Reservations will begin in the coming weeks, and Cascata also will offer room service within the hotel.
“These restaurants are open to everyone, and we easily see them becoming a destination dining option for Sioux Falls and beyond,” said Jennifer Seifert-Brenna, vice president of Lloyd Hospitality Group, which manages the hotel and restaurants at The Steel District.
“Chris and his team have done an incredible job putting their menus together. As we’ve done tastings in the weeks leading up to opening, we’ve absolutely loved our meals and know our guests will too.”
Hiring is going well, but Hodapp said he still needs to fill more roles, including on the banquet side of the hotel, which he also oversees.
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“Each event is very unique on its own, so we have a banquet menu, and there are influences from Cascata, but it’s very Midwestern and very accessible,” he said. “We’ll probably do a lot of custom menus to really create that experience for the guest of exactly what they want.”
A private dining room also can seat up to two dozen people.
“It’s such a unique property with things you don’t see in an everyday hotel and restaurant,” Hodapp said. “It’s really a showstopper for the people who walk through our front door.”
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