Rose Cafe on Rose

A visit to the classic Venice cafe

When I was growing up in LA as a young teen my favorite place was the Rose Cafe on Rose Avenue in Venice. Those were the days when you had to duck your head when driving through some of the streets around Rose, due to the continuous gang warfare going on. We called Venice Ghost Town, and it felt somewhat otherworldly with the mix of urban-grit- meets -old Cali -sea shore -village vibe. Those days the skaters straight from Dog town would be tearing up the sidewalks in front of Rose Cafe, while cool movie stars like Dennis Hopper braved it out by smoking their Marlboro Reds in front of the big painted Rose. Today with Google moving in down the street, Rose avenue has transformed into another gentrified metropolis. I still like and visit my namesake street at least for Moon juice and Cafe Gratitude across from each other. The Rose Cafe has now reopened with a whole fresh new vibe, and is adding another eatery to the scene there.

I wish I could say the food was incredible at The Rose Cafe. I try to pride myself on living in truth, and being honest about all that I post here. The day my photographers and I visited we were supposed to cook something with the chef Jason Neroni, however he treated us with complete disdain and disrespect so we got to try some of the food from the deli section. Those dishes seemed a bit wilted from being out all day however, I will try to recreate them with the recipes below. I have had dinner at The Rose Cafe and that was better in terms of freshness and flavor. Also I didn’t receive the cold shoulder reserved only for bloggers :  )

Besides the cold reception from chef Neroni, I felt right at home with the beautiful tile floors, and ethnic printed textiles. It felt like being in Europe on Holiday and that is always a good thing.

Beet Salad

Ingredients:
8 medium beets
1 cup ricotta cheese
¼ cup sherry vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp chopped chives
4 sprigs rosemary
4 sprigs thyme
Salt and pepper

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400F
Place beets, rosemary and thyme in a covered baking dish in ½ inch of water.
Bake for 30 minutes
Peel and dice cooled beets
Toss with sherry vinegar and olive oil
Spread ricotta cheese on a serving platter and top with diced beets
Sprinkle with chopped chives
Salt and pepper to taste

 

Kale Salad

Ingredients:
4 cups Black Tuscan kale
1 cup pickled apricots (prepared in advance – see below)
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp pine nuts
4 sprigs mint
1 lemon
Salt and pepper

Preparation:
Wash and dry kale, and chop into thin strips
Leaf and coarsely chop mint
Toss kale, mint, apricots, parmesan and juice of 1 lemon in a large bowl until well combined
Sprinkle with pine nuts
Salt and pepper to taste

Apricot Pickles

Ingredients:
1 lb unripened apricots
2 ¼ cups granulated sugar
1 ¼ cup white vinegar
1 cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup kosher salt
1 Tbsp mustard seed
1 tsp red pepper flakes
¾ tsp celery seed
1 inch cinnamon stick
6 allspice berries
Pinch of ground cloves

Preparation:
Combine all ingredients (except apricots) in a saucepan and simmer until sugar and salt are dissolved
Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly
Wash and chop apricots into ¼” stripsCombine apricots and liquid in a large glass container, and allow to marinate overnight
Yields approximately 2 cups of pickles, which can be stored in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks

Tags:beet salad, Jason Neroni, kale, mint, moon juice, parmesan, pine nuts, recipe, ricotta cheese, Rose Cafe, rosemary, thyme, Venice, Venice beach, vinegar