The ribbon cutting ceremony played with music in the background to officially open the doors of Rose’s Café in busy downtown Miami.
Located at 200 NW Second Ave., facing the Stephen P. Clark Government Center building, Rose’s Café will serve hot meals for breakfast and lunch, between the hours of 7 a.m. and 3 p.m.
It marked the conclusion of a tense, three months for Keith “Chef Rose” Rose, a native of Kingston, Jamaica, who, at the age of 10, migrated to America with his family and settled in Hollywood, Fla.
This downtown location is Rose’s third; the other two are located on campuses of the University of Miami and Carlos Albizu in Doral. And he plans to open two other locations by year’s end.
“They’re doing wonderful,” Rose, when asked about his other two locations. “They have a built-in crowd. We hope to have that here, too.”
People by the numbers work in nearby locations and countless others visit to shop, transact private or government business, while others take in the sights. Rose is banking on the success at his two other locations translating to his new location.
“The concept is pretty much like this: Every day we have something different on the menu. People can come and get a tasty, healthy hot meal that’s usually international," said Rose. “I want people to know everything is made from scratch, from the soups, to salads, to the meals. There’s a healthy factor to our food. How often do you see a skinny chef?” Rose quipped, pointing to his relatively slight build.
The restaurant serves fresh mixed green salad topped with herb-crusted salmon, the Rose’s House Salad topped with the chef’s own balsamic vinaigrette dressing and the wraps such as the Loco4Coco wrap.
Charlotte McKinnon, who formerly performed with K.C. and the Sunshine Band, among others, was accompanied by Jason Sweet on keyboards to entertain the patrons and passersby as taxicabs honked their horns along Northwest Second Avenue.
Getting to this point has been a journey for Rose, who attended Hallandale High School before graduating from North Miami High School in 1989 and going on to the Arts Institute of Ft. Lauderdale, where he earned an Associate's Degree in Culinary Arts.
Rose then journeyed to Europe, where he served apprenticeships in France, Germany and Holland before returning home to ply his trade in hotels in Turnberry Isles and Doral Country Club.
“I really didn’t want to have a restaurant. My interest was in catering. But I opened my first restaurant in North Miami in 2002. After nearly three years the recession hit, business fell off and I had to close,” said Rose.
“Food overall is my passion. So, I opened my catering company - Gourmet Chef On Tour. It’s still successful. The difference between catering and a restaurant is day and night. You can’t go wrong with catering because people come to you. With a restaurant, you have to wait on people to come to you.”
The food for all three of Rose’s locations is prepared every day at a commissary location in Davie. The lack of an exhaust system prohibits cooking on the premises. That restriction limited the number of bids on the downtown location. Rose won it and now he’s off and running to serve the public, inside and at tables at the entranced to the restaurant.
“I think it’s a bold move to open a restaurant in downtown,” said Neal Hall, who attended the grand opening. “The good thing is it’s healthy food. We just have to support him.”
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Source:
http://miamitimesonline.com/news/2015/jun/17/roses-cafe-opens-downtown-miami/
