, a charming craft bar and small-plates , recently opened in Berkeley. And as it happens, its bar director once worked with a custom-designed gin-mixing robot called Bartendro. The restaurant is located at 3218 Adeline St.
in the former space of popular Nick’s Lounge. Its chef and proprietor is Lorin District native Rose Soffa Clarke. She owns the bar with her parents, Teresa Clarke and David Soffa, who worked as architects and designers on the three-year renovation.
Roses should not be confused with Rose Pizzeria in Berkeley, nor with Damask Rose or Rose’s Taproom in Oakland. (The East Bay loves roses!) And its name is not possessive, because it’s meant to refer to its namesake of pretty flowers. Soffa Clarke is a restaurant industry vet who’s worked as a cook since age 15, most recently in San Francisco at the Flour + Water Hospitality Group and buzzy Good Good Culture Club.
Her dream is to “bring more neighborhood and destination dining to Berkeley and the East Bay,” she says. The menu of elevated bar food is hopefully toothsome enough to draw in foodies. Among the shared plates served from 5 to 9 p.
m. is line-caught halibut ceviche with leche de tigre, Fresno chile and Peruvian corn ($16), spring asparagus with cured egg yolk and ricotta ($15) and katsu-style fried chicken with garlic aioli ($21). At a happy hour that runs from 4-5 p.
m., diners can order hand-cut potato chips with creamy cashew dip and pepper relish ($7) and a charcuterie plate with olives and.
