Roses on Adeline, a new kitchen and craft bar, will open in Berkeley, California, in spring 2024. (Stephanie Cowan/Gold Toast Studio)
Roses on Adeline, a charming craft bar and small plates restaurant, recently opened in Berkeley—and, coincidentally, its bar director once worked with a custom-made gin-mixing robot called Bartendoro.
The restaurant is located at 3218 Adeline Ave., in the former location of popular karaoke joint Nick's Lounge. The chef and owner is Lorin-area native Rose Soffer Clark, who runs the bar with her parents, Theresa Clark and David Soffer, who worked as architects and designers on the three-year renovation.
Roses is not to be confused with Rose Pizzeria in Berkeley, Damask Rose, or Rose's Taproom in Oakland (the East Bay loves roses!) Also, the name of this establishment is not possessive because it refers to the beautiful flower it is named after.
Sofer Clark is a restaurant industry veteran who's been cooking since she was 15, most recently working at Flour + Water Hospitality Group and the buzzy Good Good Culture Club in San Francisco. Her dream, she says, is to “bring more neighborhood and destination dining to Berkeley and the East Bay.”
The upscale bar food menu is sure to draw in foodies. Share plates available from 5 to 9 pm include caught halibut ceviche with leche de tigre, Fresno chiles and Peruvian corn ($16), spring asparagus with salted egg yolk and ricotta ($15) and katsu-style fried chicken with garlic aioli ($21). Happy hour from 4 to 5 pm includes hand-cut potato chips with creamy cashew dip and pepper relish ($7) and a charcuterie plate with olive and apricot jam ($19).
Desserts include chocolate budino with whipped cream and candied almonds, blood orange sorbet and lemon passion pavlova with fresh grapefruit. The menu is seasonal and subject to change frequently.
Most of the menu at Roses on Adeline is drinks, and that's because bar director Jennifer Colliau knows how to make them: She's been featured in Imbibe Magazine, Eater, and The New York Times, and recently designed the bar program at Fort Mason's quirky The Interval at Long Now, where she worked with a drink-mixing robot called Bartendro to create gin cocktails with “near-endless possibilities,” according to Imbibe Magazine.
Roses' drinks list features local draft beers, domestic canned beers, and wines from California and Europe. Cocktails include the Japanese Old Fashioned with yuzu bitters and Okinawan brown sugar, the Bees of Berkeley with basil elderflower gin and local honey, and the Adeline Spritz with prosecco and Brute Americano.
Drinks at the ranch include Las Marias Salmiana mezcal with mole bitters and Cascabel Reposado tequila with lime and chili. There are also a few alcoholic slushies made with ingredients like Bolivian brandy and Mexican chocolate, or mezcal, coconut cream and Chamoy gummies. For those who prefer non-alcoholic drinks, there are also mocktails made with fresh fruits, herbs and flowers.
The restaurant currently serves dinner, as well as happy hour and late-night dining, but hopes to expand to brunch and lunch soon. And parents: Leave the kids at home, as the current liquor license does not allow minors inside.
detail: Open Friday and Saturday from 4 p.m. to midnight, and Monday, Thursday and Sunday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Address: 3218 Adeline St., Berkeley; rosesonadeline.com
