Rose’s Fine Food Is Returning to the East Side After a Two-Year Slumber

Two years after Molly Mitchell decided to close her beloved bastion for fluffy stacks of pancakes, the diner’s owner has revealed plans for a reopening. Mitchell tells Eater that she’s preparing to revive Rose’s Fine Food in late May. Mitchell says little will change about the diner, which opened in 2014 at 10551 E. Jefferson Avenue and then closed in April 2023 after a series of pandemic hiccups, seemingly concluding a nine-year run on the east side. At the time, Mitchell said her three-person staff was overwhelmed. Since then, she began working as the associate director of culinary arts for the Downtown Boxing Gym. “When I closed Rose’s in 2023, I was just hollowed out as a person, just exhausted,” Mitchell tells Eater. “Everybody felt it. The pandemic created so much uncertainty and fear, and it changed the landscape of what hospitality was and what we were able to provide.” Slowly, Mitchell rekindled her love for diners, starting to write about her favorite haunts on her Substack. She then began plotting a comeback in December and began sprucing up the space. Returning will be many of the diner staples, along with Mitchell’s ethos for local sourcing, which, along with a focus on treating employees equitably, landed Rose’s national accolades from Bon Appetít early on and helped to push an emerging food scene that was just starting to gain recognition. Mitchell envisions a return to what her customers knew before the pandemic. COVID forced the diner to ramp up curbside carryout and online ordering while adding a bottle shop and selling sandwiches to go. Rose’s also transformed its parking lot into a patio with a vegetable garden and picnic tables. To restore those earnest diner vibes and keep the lights on, Mitchell says she wants to use the space at night to host pop-ups with emerging talents and work with established chefs on the rise on longer-term residencies. She’s also collaborating with Bon Bon Bon Chocolates, which recently released a collection of new flavors that includes a line of diner-themed bons inspired by Rose’s menu with flavors like rose custard paczki with rose custard, doughnut sugar, and ganache. Customers can also score a bag of pancake mix made by Mitchell. Proceeds from the pancake mix sales will go toward Rose’s reopening efforts. [Media: https://www.instagram.com/p/DICGOQYp5F6/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link%5Cu0026igsh%3DMzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D] Finding a way to return has been on Mitchell’s mind for some time. She began documenting diner memories and posting recipes, like one for a dreamy-looking chocolate pistachio cream cake, on her Substack. She realized that finding another revenue source, like sharing the diner space with other local chefs, seems like the way forward for now. Rose’s, founded 11 years ago by Mitchell and her cousin Lucy Peters, almost immediately ascended to national fame. The duo had plans to launch a second restaurant, Wilda’s, in 2016, but Peters left the project. Mitchell later had visions for opening a Polish restaurant and bakery, Poppies, in West Village; however, those also plans fell through. Meanwhile, as Mitchell continued with the business, purchasing the property that year. In September 2022, as the pandemic wore on, Mitchell listed the property for sale, and a few months later, she shared details with Eater that she was hoping to launch a culinary education program in the space. Those plans fizzled when Rose’s closed. While a new menu hasn’t been finalized, the next iteration will highlight Mitchell’s Polish roots, something she wanted to accomplish with Poppies. She’s also open to feedback. “I’ve been really talking to the public to ask them what they want to see because I’m happy to provide that,” Mitchell says. “I just want to provide a space that’s for the community, like how Roses was when we first opened.” Rose’s Fine Food, 10551 E. Jefferson Avenue, planned for a late May opening.