All venetians are activists. Each has his cause, and as only one, who comes along and tries to change anything, knows so dearly. It is an immediate firing line and guilty until proven otherwise. Venetians must be handled with care, honesty, understanding and diplomacy.
Rose Café at front and center of this point has been around since the 70’s. Many Venetians grew up and planned their days, their lives there.
Rose Café was packed Saturday. All wanted to be part of it and be there before its closing 9 February for three months. It will be remodeled and change to a different type restaurant with a different ambiance according to the scuttlebutt.
One lady who stopped me said they were getting permits yet had not been before the neighborhood council, the neighborhood, and Update has not known of them going before planning. She was trying to get one of the owners, whom she knew, to agree to a public meeting. She told Update that neighbors were totally upset with the change.
New ownership is “reported” wanting more seating capacity with insufficient parking to support such. They want to stay open until 11 pm as opposed to closing at 5 pm. But at the heart of it all is the change of type of restaurant and how the staff has been treated and not negotiating with the loyal neighbors.
One lady in line said that she had contacted an attorney regarding the help there. She said that the help had only been given a 10-day notice of termination with no guarantee of a rehire after being out of work for at least three months. She said attorney claimed that long-term employees had to have a rehire guarantee. Sorry, Update has no substantiated facts and figures.
One lady in line behind me knew all the help and knew their children.
Many stories have been written about the beloved eatery but the one by Eater LA seems to be the one with the most facts and is the least emotional. Apparently, the original owners Kamal Kapur and Manhar Patel are joining with Bill Chait of the Sprout Restaurant Group. Jason Neroni is to be the chief chef.
The article said that the new Rose will not become a B-Side Pizzeria. Instead it will be more of a revamp instead of a reset. The group feels it needs a fresh new interior and a much-needed tinkering under the hood.
The article concluded with a quote from Neroni that stated this was his dream project and he definitely wanted to honor the legacy. He said: “My intention is to create a special space for a community that I consider myself a part of ever since I moved to LA.”
Here we go again – one more late night restaurant/bar with limited parking. That’s what we do not need. What we do need is a low key reasonably priced restaurant like the Rose was – open until 5 or maybe 7. Once again, the new owner does not sound like a good neighbor. Remember, the ARGONAUT and BEACHHEAD newsstands were TORN OUT TWICE, while all the other newsstands remained. The Argonaut and Beachhead are covering local news and covering the facts about bad neighbors. We support new businesses that follow the laws and are good neighbors. We’re all for those businesses – Gratitude Cafe for just one example. Why are developers avoiding LUPC and VNC, when LUPC has approved 80% of what has come before it. VNC President, Mike Newhouse, presented this fact at a December 2014 LUPC meeting. Well, we know why, don’t we, it seems many developers throughout LA no longer comply with rules, regulations, code, laws and they get no penalty. Our leaders, Mayor Eric Garcetti and Councilman Mike Bonin are not leading. Rather, they are following. Bonin meets with developers, but has refused to meet with leaders of community organizations. Bonin remains our invisible representative only seen through “letters” in which he talks out of both sides of his mouth. See the February Free Venice Beachhead for clarification.