First look inside Ashok Bajaj's new D.C. restaurant Rosedale
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Crudo with avocado and roasted pepper vinaigrette. Photo: Courtesy Greg Powers
Prolific D.C. restaurateur Ashok Bajaj (Rasika, Bombay Club) is ready to debut his latest spot: Rosedale, a rustic New American restaurant near Van Ness opening Oct. 24.
Why it matters: Chef Frank Ruta, who ran beloved Palena in nearby Cleveland Park for many years, returns to the area — as does his famous roast chicken.
Dig in: Rosedale, named after an 18th-century farm estate nearby, draws heavily from local fields and waters for the farm-to-table menu.
- Ruta, a former White House chef who also helms the kitchen at Annabelle, is known for his homemade breads, cured meats and refined seasonal cooking — all of which diners will find here.
The vibe: Rosedale aims to be the kind of neighborhood restaurant others would leave their neighborhoods for. A U-shaped bar is designed for socializing. Banquettes welcome groups, and there's a 30-seat patio that'll debut next spring.
- "It was never supposed to be this ambitious," Bajaj tells Axios. But then Ruta signed on, a rotisserie grill arrived, and the kitchen began planning homemade pastas and fermenting dough for thin-crust pizzas.
What to try: Tables can share small plates like chicken livers with pickled honeycrisps and grilled focaccia, seafood fritto misto, or roasted beets with figs before digging into mains.
- The rest of the menu spans pastas — think Amatriciana with house-cured guanciale — cheffy thin-crust pizzas (e.g. a "Capitol Slice" with homemade bacon, fig jam and fontina) and mains.
- Diners can splurge on a 45-day dry-aged rib steak or sole in butter Anglaise sauce, or seek out the rotisserie roast chicken special.
In your glass: Classic cocktails like a martinez or barrel-aged fig Manhattan ($14-$16), and global food-friendly wines and beers.
- Alcohol-free creations like a spiced peach mocktail with thyme and pink peppercorns go for $8 — notable in the new $18-mocktail norm.
Zoom out: Bajaj built a reputation on swanky downtown dining rooms like Rasika and the Oval Room (now La Bise), but he's been edging north lately with less dressy concepts like Little Blackbird wine bar in Cleveland Park.
- "Would I have opened here pre-pandemic? Probably not," says Bajaj of his new upper Northwest location. "Now Downtown is often dead, and the customers are here."
Fun fact: The original Revolutionary War-era Rosedale Farmhouse still stands in Cleveland Park — one of the oldest structures in D.C. — though it's private, so outside views only.
If you go: Rosedale, 4465 Connecticut Avenue NW. Open for dinner (Sunday brunch coming soon).
