{"id":20500,"date":"2015-09-05T21:39:22","date_gmt":"2015-09-06T01:39:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/?p=20500"},"modified":"2015-09-05T21:46:40","modified_gmt":"2015-09-06T01:46:40","slug":"celebrating-our-anniversary-at-roses-luxury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/2015\/09\/05\/celebrating-our-anniversary-at-roses-luxury\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating our anniversary at Rose’s Luxury"},"content":{"rendered":"

Back when Bon App\u00e9tit<\/em> named Rose’s Luxury<\/a> the Best New Restaurant in America 2014<\/a>, the writer of the piece stated that “Rose\u2019s isn\u2019t just in the restaurant business; it\u2019s in the making-people-happy business,” while Chef and owner Aaron Silverman was quoted as saying, “I just want to make people happy.”<\/p>\n

Last night, when Irene<\/a> and I dropped by to celebrate our 39th anniversary<\/a>, Silverman and his staff met and exceeded that goal.<\/p>\n

That isn’t the easiest of feats for a place that takes no reservations, yet remains so popular most customers wait at least a couple of hours to be seated. We’d arrived at 3:05 to make sure we could be part of the first seating at 5:00, and by the time the doors opened, the line stretched behind us down the block, took a right turn, and then vanished into an alley.<\/p>\n

\"RosesLuxury39Line\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But people are willing to put up with it because the food and the service are that good<\/em>. Whatever weariness we felt from our long wait vanished before the smiles of the enthusiastic staff, and from what we found waiting for us when we got to our table.<\/p>\n

\"RosesLuxury39Menu\"<\/a><\/p>\n

That’s right—we found us<\/em> waiting for us, looking up from our menus.<\/p>\n

How could such a thing have happened at a restaurant which takes no reservations?<\/p>\n

I’d tweeted at them <\/a>the previous day, asking how early I’d need to arrive to make sure we got in for the first seating. After they responded, I’d jokingly tweeted<\/a> a photo from our wedding day, telling them that this was how they’d be able to recognize us in their line. I had no idea they’d run with that and create personalized menus. It was a major surprise and amazingly sweet of them. <\/p>\n

So that immediately put us in a good mood. And my wife even said that looking down at our younger selves got her a little verklempt.<\/p>\n

Then the food began, bringing us to new highs …<\/p>\n

First, the bread service, which consisted of brioche accompanied by butter topped with crispy potato skins.<\/p>\n

\"RosesLuxury39Brioche\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This was followed by our second surprise: White sturgeon caviar sent as an unexpected gift from the chef to congratulate us on our 39th anniversary, served with chips and creme fraiche.<\/p>\n

\"RosesLuxury39Caviar\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Then the dishes we’d ordered began to appear, starting with rock shrimp ceviche with crispy plantains. Its tart coolness perked us up after that wait outside in the 90-degree heat.<\/p>\n

\"RosesLuxury39RockShrimp\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This was followed by the most beautifully plated dish of the night, a summer vegetable panzanella. And though it can’t be seen, there was a taste of Brie infused in every bite.<\/p>\n

\"RosesLuxury39Panzanella\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After that came another surprise dish, this one a gift from our server—a grilled avocado with tomatillo, poblano, cotija cheese and cilantro stems. Quite creamy, and oh, that cheese was good! <\/p>\n

\"RosesLuxury39Avocado\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The grilled hanger steak was prepared with Japanese mustard, eel sauce, and scallions (plus a few fried cucumbers to the far right), with that mustard giving the dish a nice kick.<\/p>\n

\"RosesLuxury39HangerSteak\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We ordered Rose’s signature dish—a pork sausage, habanero, peanuts, and lychee salad—even though I’d had it before<\/a>. But neither my wife nor son had, so it was a must. Check it out before I mashed all the ingredients together, which is what customers are instructed to do after the dish is served. <\/p>\n

\"RosesLuxury39Lychee\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I know that, unlike most of the other dishes, it’s tough to imagine what this one might taste like. This might help.<\/p>\n