[identity profile] badseed1980.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] davis_square
Well, this is exciting!

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/restaurants/blog/2014/09/12/fully-revamped-rosebud-open-september-15/?fb_action_ids=10152352961591027&fb_action_types=og.recommends


Davis Square’s Rosebud Diner will officially make its comeback as Rosebud American Kitchen & Bar on September 15. Restauranteur Joe Cassinelli, of the Alpine Restaurant Group (Painted Burro, Posto), is behind the transformation with a new Pan-American menu that touches upon Southern, Thai, Italian, and classic Americana diner fare.

“Our goal is to be a solid neighborhood restaurant,” Cassinelli says. “I live in town and I wanted to create a restaurant I would go and eat at on a regular basis, without feeling it’s supposed to be this educational experience. I was looking for down and dirty food—burgers, barbecue, banana cream pies, and fried chicken.”

Joining him is chef/partner John Delpha who came up through Jamie Mammano’s kitchens, Mistral and Sorellina. Most recently, Delpha was manning his own restaurant, The Belted Cow in Essex Junction, Vermont, which closed in May. Delpha, who has amassed over 30 awards with his nationally ranked barbecue team, iQue, will bring a serious barbecue focus to the menu, including pork shank with a five-spice rub, St. Louis-style ribs, bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers (also called “Atomic Buffalo Turds” on the barbecue circuit), and Texas-style brisket.

“John is truly a grand champion in the barbecue world, so what he’s really bringing to the table is his passion for smoke,” Cassinelli says. “We’re not just doing prime cuts in the smoke program. You’re not going to walk in and just see baby back ribs. You might see that as a special, but it won’t be our focus. Johnny is really passionate about barbecue and he want to run this like a real barbecue stand. There won’t be an infinite supply of brisket and ribs, so when we’re out, we’re out.”

Other highlights will include fried chicken thighs with an Alabama-style white dipping sauce, griddled cheeseburgers, and whole roasted hog heads with gochujang barbecue sauce, kimchi, ginger scallion relish, and biscuits.

“It might freak some people out, but if you’re into really good meat, you’re getting the cheeks, the jowls, everything,” Cassinelli says. “It’ll be half a head served with buns and cool accompaniments, so you can basically make your own banh mi sandwich.”

For dessert, Cassinelli will give a nod to the Rosebud’s dining car legacy with a wide array of pies and “buck-a-cup” coffee. “Obviously, we couldn’t get rid of the historical Rosebud name, so we embraced the Rosebud, if you will,” Cassinelli says. “What you’ll find when you come into the space are some touches that go back to its 1930s-era diner days, including our pie program and our buck-a-cup coffee. At an old diner you would have to serve a great cup of coffee. That’s one of the elements we wanted to keep around.”

The bar program is helmed by Ian Strickland (The Beehive, The Merchant) who has put together an extensive spirits with over 80 types of whiskey, whiskey flights, and cocktails named after the restaurant’s previous iterations (Cuckoo’s Nest, Jaunty Jack). The beer section includes a wide range of canned selections, a dedicated list of barrel-aged offerings, and 18 beers on draft, many from local operations like Aeronaut, Jack’s Abby, and Night Shift.

Rosebud American Kitchen & Spirits will initially be able to accommodate up to 140 guests, but Cassinelli is already petitioning the city of Somerville to add more seating. The space has seen a number of renovations since the Alpine Group took over the lease in January. Cassinelli knocked down a number of walls to open up the space; he converted the dining car into a semi-private dining area that seats up to 30 guests; he lined the dining room with tufted leather banquettes and “old style” booths; and he built a raised patio—complete with a pergola—in the former alley next to the building.

The restaurant will be open daily from 4 p.m to 11 p.m., with the bar staying open until 1 a.m. Rosebud will also offer Sunday brunch starting later this fall. Below is a look at the menu, which is subject to change."

I didn't miss it when the old Rosebud closed, because I never really had good food there, and much of it was downright awful. Now, however, I'm actually looking forward to trying out the new incarnation!

Date: 2014-09-12 08:30 pm (UTC)
From: [personal profile] ron_newman
I look forward to this. Any idea whether live music will return to the back room?

Date: 2014-09-12 08:37 pm (UTC)
From: [personal profile] ron_newman
I hope they'll eventually expand brunch to other days, or at least to Saturday. Buck-a-cup coffee is a great thing, but for me it's almost always a bad idea after 4 pm.

Date: 2014-09-12 10:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mzrowan.livejournal.com
So another place that has little to nothing for veg*ns, then. Oh well.

Date: 2014-09-13 11:18 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] teko.livejournal.com
Well, one of the featured entrees is grilled cauliflower, they have a vegan falafel sub, and they have things like fried green tomatoes, veggie sweet corn soup, three different salads, charred broccoli, and a ton of veggie side dishes. A vegetarian has a pretty good selection.

Date: 2014-09-15 07:03 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mzrowan.livejournal.com
Corn soup: not vegan (lime crema). Fried green tomatoes: not vegetarian (crab). Of the three salads, two have meat in them (anchovies, pig candy); the third has cheese. The charred broccoli might be vegan, depending on what's in the sauce. Grilled cauliflower: cheese. Falafel sub: cheese and tzatziki. So yeah, if I wanted to go there with my vegan partner, he might be able to cobble together a meal from french fries and pickled veggies, maybe some charred broccoli. And he'd have to have the same meal each and every time we went there. Not our idea of fun.

Date: 2014-09-15 07:06 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] teko.livejournal.com
Having spent a good 15 yrs as a vegetarian, I know that what's on the printed menu and what's actually available for specialized diets are two very different things. I'm certain that if you went with your partner, just like every restaurant I've been to, they'd be able to leave the bacon, cheese, etc. off, and give you a wide selection of dining options. Frankly, I've never seen a BBQ-type restaurant that actually has veggie-friendly options as main courses, so I give them credit for that.

Date: 2014-09-15 07:11 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mzrowan.livejournal.com
Having been a vegetarian for twenty years, I'm sick of having to make special requests (and end up with half the tastes that the chef intended to have in the dish) to get something to eat. And so is he.

Date: 2014-09-15 07:18 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] teko.livejournal.com
Sorry, I didn't mean it that way. I guess what I'm saying is: you can't really say that a new restaurant is "hostile towards vegetarians" until you actually see how they can accommodate you. That said, I also hate making special requests. I'm sure that when Tenoch and Bibim open, they'll give you some more choices in the area, but I know how hard it is to find deeply veg*n friendly menus.

Date: 2014-09-15 09:26 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] surrealestate.livejournal.com
Looks like the broccoli has oyster sauce, so it's not even vegetarian.

Date: 2014-09-15 10:22 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mzrowan.livejournal.com
Oh, right! I was thinking that referred to oyster *mushrooms*, but no, it's mollusc juice.

Date: 2014-09-14 02:18 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] oneagain.livejournal.com
They might appreciate some feedback of this nature, that this is wanted.

Date: 2014-09-15 01:38 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] achinhibitor.livejournal.com
I'd think the fraction of vegetarians and of vegans in Davis Sq. would be high enough to support considerable choices for them.

Date: 2014-09-15 02:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] teko.livejournal.com
Which they offer.

Date: 2014-09-15 07:06 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mzrowan.livejournal.com
And yet, you get places like this (see reply above to [livejournal.com profile] teko about how slim the vegan options are), the departed M3, and Foundry/Saloon, where they do things like put yogurt in the hummus. Some places are great (for example, Five Horses), but it's astounding to me how many seem only hostile to veg*ns.

Date: 2014-09-16 03:43 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] achinhibitor.livejournal.com
I wonder if the percentage of veg*ns is lower than I think it is, to the point that there's little money in worrying about their tastes. OTOH, perhaps they're used to having poor choices, and the restaurants feel little pressure to improve.

meh

Date: 2014-09-15 03:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ywwg.livejournal.com
Sad to see the Rosebud Diner reduced to "elements we wanted to keep around." Now it's just another unbearably hip, expensive place to get dinner.

RE: meh

Date: 2014-09-15 05:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] teko.livejournal.com
I'm very glad that the run-down, increasingly badly-run Rosebud has been rehabbed. My last few visits to the old Rosebud were pretty awful (apart from their red flannel hash), frankly. And really, I'm not sure what's more 'unbearably hip': a moderately-upscale diner or a crummy one filled with hipsters. If the food's good, I'm happy.

Date: 2014-09-15 09:20 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] surrealestate.livejournal.com
Not to nitpick, but in case people are thrown off by the current subject line, Rosebud is not re-opening -- a new restaurant of the same name is opening.

Date: 2014-09-16 07:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tequilamckngbrd.livejournal.com
Anyone go there for the opening night?

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