Superstar Chef Chris Cosentino Debuts His Stunning New Italian Restaurant, Rosalie

One of the year’s most anticipated restaurants, superstar California chef Chris Cosentino’s Rosalie Italian Soul, is officially set to make its debut.

The new eatery will arrive tonight inside the chic C. Baldwin Hotel in Downtown Houston at 400 Dallas Street. It’s the first Texas restaurant for partners Oliver Wharton and Cosentino, who earned celebrity chef status via his award-winning California restaurants Cockscomb and Acacia House and appearances on food reality TV shows like Iron Chef America. As reported previously, Rosalie takes its name from Cosentino’s grandmother, who he says taught him how to hand-crank pasta as a kid.

Bright midcentury modern interiors await at Rosalie, which boasts seating for about 145 diners. The space, designed by Rohe Creative, is decked out in vintage floral textiles, a mix of dark and light wood chairs and tables, and graphic printed tile. Murano glass chandeliers hang from the ceiling, and a ton of lush plants add brightness and color to the restaurant. The wood-fired pizza oven, decked out in a rose motif, is functional art in the space. And, because new restaurants and bars are apparently (probably) legally mandated to have kitschy neon signs, you’ll also find a bright pink rendering of the restaurant’s name buzzing in neon at its entrance.

Michelle Watson for Rosalie

Julie Soefer for Rosalie

As far as the food is concerned, look forward to a menu with an equally midcentury vibe thanks to dishes that Cosentino describes as “red sauce classics.” The restaurateur tapped chef Sasha Grumman, who comes to Houston via Launderette in Austin and Cosentino’s Cockscomb in San Francisco, to serve as the kitchen’s executive chef. She’ll be in charge of serving up dishes like local prawn fra diavolo that’s roasted in a wood-fired oven, blue crab manicotti, whole chicken Milanese, and eggplant parmesan slathered in Rosalie’s Sunday gravy. On the boozy side of the menu, expect a 100-bottle wine list and multiple variations on classic Italian negronis.

Rosalie is now open for breakfast and dinner service. Lunch service is set to follow on October 23.

• Superstar San Francisco Chef Chris Cosentino Will Open a Houston Restaurant [EHOU]
• Chris Cosentino Taps an Austin Chef to Lead Italian Eatery Rosalie [EHOU]
• Houston’s Most Anticipated New Restaurants, Fall 2019 [EHOU]