Today, on Feb. 26, Cimino and Watts open their second restaurant, Rosy, a modern take on European, old-world cuisine where the open-fire grill takes center stage. The bistro space features 50 seats, including communal tables, high tops and bar seats, from which you can feel the heat of the grill and see the fire illuminating the room. Forgoing a printed menu, the day’s dishes are chalk-written above the exposed cooking area, and following Cordelia’s hyper-seasonal, farm-to-table approach, those panels are pulled when the kitchen inevitably runs out of specials.
Cooking on a fire is a thrilling challenge for the chef. Every day, the hot spots are different. The chefs are constantly moving and adjusting the fire, ensuring the embers don’t burn out — “or else you’re screwed,” the chef says.
“Fire is a living, breathing thing,” Cimino says. “It’s such a carnal, rudimentary way of cooking. You kind of go home smelling like a campfire every single night, in the best way.”
Despite being equipped with a live-fire grill, the space took a lot of build-out. Cimino and Watts took a hands-on approach with the design. Colorful tiles, which transition the brutalist cinderblock walls into the warm wood banquette seating, were hand-picked out of a tile graveyard in Seneca, Ohio. The kitchen and prep areas were expanded. The grill was revived from a dilapidated state. Shred and Co. installed the Douglas fir wood kitchen counter, banquettes and soft, rounded seating. The Cleveland company, owned by Carl Ziek and Scott Larson, also added specializations like the glass blocks on the front of the building and soft serve machine built into the wall for the restaurant’s signature after-dinner sweet treat, vanilla ice cream topped with olive oil and sea salt.
Dining and Cooking