Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 9, 1994 TAG: 9409090034
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOLORES KOSTELNI CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Rosa's
Step into Rosa's on East Washington Avenue, into a building that might have housed a dry cleaners in a previous life, and you're transported back to the '40s and '50s with all the home-cooked dishes we loved. Rosa Lanier opened her restaurant in March 1993 and wondered how things would go for her and her all-female staff. Today she's as happy as a lark. She says, "Business is successful beyond what I could've imagined. I'm looking for a second location because I hope to expand to another area of the Roanoke Valley."
As testimony to the wholesomeness of the food, every Friday she serves the William Byrd football team a winning meal. On the Friday I spoke with Rosa, she and her staff had served the team grilled marinated chicken breasts with rice pilaf and gravy, mushroom rolls to mop up the gravy, country green beans and chilled peaches for dessert.
The restaurant's trademark dish, Rosa's fried green tomatoes ($1.25 for a side order), is a joy and a wonder. It's possible to make an entire delicious meal out of these golden, lusciously crunchy, yet soft tomato slices in their cornmeal coats. During the winter, I noticed yellow tomato skin peeking out from the crust. Lanier explained: "During certain times of year, green tomato skins are bitter, and they would ruin the dish. My vegetable purveyor recommended yellow tomatoes, instead, and they worked just fine.''
The unifying theme at Rosa's is that all dishes are prepared from scratch. As an example, unlike many restaurants that receive fully cooked ribs from their suppliers, Rosa's gets uncooked full racks of baby back ribs and cooks them until the meat is ready to fall from the bones. Basting with a special sauce takes place just before they're ready for the final roasting. I found both the full rack ($9.99) and the half-rack ($6.99) succulent.
Not only have I feasted for $10.42 on a meal and trimmings that included quickly grilled liver with sauteed onions and gravy on the side ($4.89), a half-acre sized piece of white meal corn bread, four slices of fried green tomatoes and pinto beans (99 cents), but I also topped it off with a piece of homemade spice cake. Neither the main dish nor any of its side dishes trailed any grease. It was all delicious. Only the cake disappointed me: a little dry, overly large pieces of nuts and too much sharpness from one of the spices.
Salmon cakes ($4.99) go with country green beans seasoned nicely with streak o'lean, cole slaw, corn bread and those wonderful fried green tomatoes. Country fried steak ($4.99) marries perfectly with fluffy mashed potatoes and other good fixings, but most especially with fried green tomatoes.
There's lots of good food at Rosa's, especially for breakfast, with the half moon fried apple pies ($1.25) made from leftover biscuit dough. Few things in this world go better with a cup of coffee.
Five-Boro Bagels
A good bagel is a thing of beauty, and Hal and Joanne Stern, along with their bakers, Paul Romeo, Eddie Keller and Mike Harazo, are the wizards providing us with superb and beautiful bagels (45 cents each). These big, meaty bagels sport gorgeously shiny crusts and burnished crowns, with tender, giving interiors and gently chewy exteriors.
Their shiny crusts indicate the bagels were made the old-fashioned way, with a boiling before an oven browning. In addition to a high gluten flour composition and the bakers' know-how, these are the chief reasons why Five-Boro bagels are so extraordinary.
All the bagels in the baker's dozen I brought home measured almost four inches across and came close to two inches high. I froze them and defrosted them, one by one, wrapped in a paper towel, in the microwave for 50 seconds. I enjoyed two a day in gluttonous solitude. I did not feel guilty. Five-Boro Bagels are simply excellent.
These exemplary bagels can stand on their own, they don't need a thing to make them better. However, they do make delicious sandwiches, and I relished the 12 O'clock Knob ($4.75), which came layered with Black Forest ham, smoked turkey and baby Swiss on a sesame bagel. A friend delighted in the Roanoke Star ($3.95), a creation of roasted turkey breast, scallion cream cheese, cucumber slices, alfalfa sprouts and tomato on a sesame bagel. We ate at one of the small tables in the immaculately clean deli while watching the staff work at warp speed.
Food trends come and go. But good bagels are here forever.
Primavera
Tito Vinces took over the ownership of Primavera, formerly Ciro's, in May. With Aurelio Fontanarosa manning the burners, the new owner has eliminated lunch, upscaled the food and increased the portion size.
The menu concentrates on the familiar classics, and the best part are the prices, which have been reworked into introductory specials: chicken at $7.95, shrimp at $8.95 and veal at $9.95. Main-course preparations are simple and tasty.
Chicken Marsala is a delicious dish. Four pieces of evenly pounded, tender chicken breast have a covering of sliced mushrooms and a bed of fettuccine with just enough of the richly flavored Sicilian wine sauce to make everything glisten. Baked ziti ($6.95) with a nicely seasoned marinara sauce is also worth noting. If you're tired of chicken and you don't want veal, try the shrimp Portofino with a goodly number of really large, perfectly cooked shrimp swimming about in lightly seasoned, chopped fresh tomatoes.
Starters are limited, and the antipasto ($4.95), with its snappy pickled peppers, thick slices of rolled ham and abundance of cheese atop a heap of fresh, crunchy lettuce did not get our meal off to a good beginning, especially since we received it late, after our main course. The gigantic piece of bland apple dumpling cake ($1.75) for dessert didn't provide the perfect ending, either, but the homemade cheesecake had just enough creamy sweetness.
Eating a good Italian dinner can be satisfying and worthwhile. Primavera has the potential to shine as a friendly neighborhood restaurant with dependable, fresh food.
ROSA'S FAMILY RESTAURANT
1325 E. Washington Ave., Vinton
344-2391
HOURS: open 7 days a week: Monday through Saturday 7 a.m.-7 p.m; Sunday: 7 a.m.- 6 p.m.
BEVERAGES: coffee, tea, soft drinks
PRICE RANGE: $1.39 - $10.99
CREDIT CARDS? MasterCard, Visa
RESERVATIONS REQUIRED? on Friday and Saturday evenings
NON-SMOKING SECTION? yes
FIVE BORO BAGELS
2050 Electric Road at Southwest Plaza, Roanoke
989-5569
HOURS: open 7 days a week:
Monday through Friday, 6:30 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday, 7 a.m.-2 p.m.; Sunday, 8 a.m.-2 p.m.
BEVERAGES: gourmet coffee, tea, soft drinks
PRICE RANGE: 45 cents-$6.95
Credit cards? none
NON-SMOKING SECTION? entire deli
PRIMAVERA Brambleton Commons, Roanoke 772-8033
HOURS: open 7 days, for dinner only:
Monday through Sunday, 4 p.m.-10 p.m.
BEVERAGES: alcoholic and nonalcoholic
PRICE RANGE: $5.50 - $9.95
CREDIT CARDS? MasterCard, Visa
RESERVATIONS REQUIRED? not necessary
NON-SMOKING SECTION? yes
Dolores Kostelni has extensive experience in the food industry, having worked as a restaurant consultant, manager and chef.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***