By admin 
On any given day, The Hillmont at Remedy Supply in Auburn serves what they call California tapas, small plates featuring fresh, local ingredients. The spacious restaurant with high, coffered ceilings features a central bar where mixologists churn out artful cocktails.
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Should you drop in on Tuesday afternoon, however, things look a little different. Torches greet you at the front door. Tropical touches dot the interior: Parrots dangle from the pendant lights. Themed mugs are stationed on the bar. Exotica plays on the sound system.
Every Tuesday, The Hillmont transforms to Monty’s Hideaway, bar manager and self-proclaimed “head cheerleader” Drew Garrison’s pet project. The name is derived from Monty, the mounted elk head that looms above the entryway, who dons a tea leaf lei on Tuesdays to get into the spirit.
“When (proprietors Jordan and Melinda Minyard) approached me about opening a restaurant here, I said on one condition: That I get to do a tiki night,” he said.
Garrison’s journey into tiki began when he landed a gig as brand ambassador for Captain Morgan rum. With his shapely black beard and twinkling eyes, it’s not hard to picture him as a swashbuckler.
The job took him to Smuggler’s Cove, the tiki bar helmed by Martin Cate in San Francisco. The visit was a revelation.
“It’s one of the coolest bars in the world, and it’s been rated one of the best bars in the world at different times. I was just spellbound by it,” he said.
Garrison got more involved with tiki, becoming part of Sac Ohana, the social group of tiki enthusiasts. He even went so far as to create a bar, the Leaky Tiki Mug, in his Sacramento home. The Leaky Tiki Mug was featured on one of Sac Ohana’s tours of home bars.
Garrison and his family relocated to Auburn in 2021, so he dismantled the bar and has not yet had the time to rebuild it. He brings his own accents in to dress up Monty’s on Tuesdays.
The decorative elements that adorn the bar on Tuesdays seem subtle in the vast space. The menu, however, is a radical retread. Garrison and his team wanted to create a food and drink menu that maintained a balance of approachability and loyalty to the tiki aesthetic.
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“The tiki community has very strong opinions on how things should be done, but we also wanted to show that there’s some creativity here as well. I want people to know that they can come in and get a 1944 Mai Tai, and it’s going to be made correctly, and you’re going to be able to get a Jet Pilot, but then you’re also going to get the Bitter Paradise or the Fernana that are modern drinks that our team has come up with,” he said.
The food menu toes the same line of traditional and modern, crafted by chef Ashley Strickland. The grilled Spam and cheese sliders ($16), with thin slices of Spam seared crisp served on Hawaiian buns with pineapple-jalapeno chutney, are a flavor bomb. The island fries ($18) get a disco treatment with pork belly, banh mi pickled vegetables, sweet chili sauce and miso aioli, delivering a sweet-savory-umami punch.
“I always joke that Auburn has tacos and pizza on lock. But it’s nice to have something just a little bit different on a Tuesday that people can come out and be like, try these honey prawns or these sliders,” Garrison said.
It’s not only a fresh alternative for the diners, but also for the restaurant’s staff.
“I think one of the things with restaurants is that sometimes it can feel a little bit monotonous, right? Tiki offers this break during the week not only for the bartending team but also for the cooks too where once a week we kind of just mix it up and do things just a little bit differently,” he said.
Tiki is Garrison’s passion, but his chief objective for the space is inclusiveness.
“We don’t take ourselves too seriously. We want people coming in here for their anniversaries and birthdays and special events, of course, but we also want you to go hit one of the many trails that we have in town, and then come in here for a cocktail after,” he said.
The Hillmont at Remedy Supply
Address: 875 Lincoln Way, Auburn
Hours: 8 a.m. – 12 p.m. and 2-10 p.m. Monday-Saturday; Monty’s Hideaway 4-10 p.m. Tuesdays
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Phone: 530-883-8014
Website: hillmontauburn.com
Vegetarian options: A handful of items on both the tiki and regular menus