Introducing: Rose City Kitchen, the first location of Toronto’s new Middle Eastern snack bar chain
Introducing: Rose City Kitchen, the first location of Toronto’s new Middle Eastern snack bar chain
Name: Rose City Kitchen
Neighbourhood: Queen West
Contact Info: 406 Queen St. W., rosecitykitchen.com, @RoseCityKitchen
Owners: Shontelle Pinch, co-owner of the Gourmet Bitches food truck, and Nipun Sharma, who created the Tandoori restaurant franchise
Chef: Shontelle Pinch
The Food: Five Mediterranean-style sandwiches, each served in a piping-hot pita and named after a different Mediterranean nation. The Moroccan, for instance, comprises couscous, cabbage, almonds, apricots, chickpeas and house-made harissa, plus a choice of protein (co-owner and chef Shontelle Pinch recommends halloumi cheese). The Egyptian comes stuffed with eggplant confit, chickpeas, dates and garlic oil. It pairs well with braised beef, which is cooked in the kitchen’s hot stone oven. Also on the menu: fermented veggies, a kale salad and three Middle Eastern-inspired poutines, including one topped with falafel balls and hummus.
The Place: The sunny space at the corner of Queen West and Cameron streets is a welcome addition to the burger-crowded strip. The room has 15 seats and whitewashed brick walls, one of which is plastered with a 12-foot-tall photograph of Petra, the archeological city in Jordan. In the open kitchen, a red-tiled stone oven fires out 300 pitas a day (customers can watch the pockets expand as they place their orders). This location is the first outlet in a soon-to-expand Rose City chain. The second location is slated to open this spring at Yonge and King, and a third is also in the works.
The Numbers:
• 300 pitas pulled daily from a roaring hot oven
• 12-foot vintage photograph of Petra, the archeological city in Jordan
• 6 months to renovate
• 3 house-made hot sauces, including the Cherry Harissa, which is made with stone-ground cherries
• 1 of three Rose City Kitchen locations opening in 2014
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- Introducing: Rose City Kitchen
- Introducing: Rose City Kitchen
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- <strong>Rose City Kitchen</strong> is located at the corner of Queen West and Cameron streets, just a few doors down from Banh Mi Boys
- (Image: Jackie Pal)
- Introducing: Rose City Kitchen
- Introducing: Rose City Kitchen
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- Whitewashed walls brighten up the narrow space, which gets lots of sun
- (Image: Jackie Pal)
- Introducing: Rose City Kitchen
- Introducing: Rose City Kitchen
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- The shop’s branding and design were masterminded by local digital firm <strong>Salt and Pepper</strong>
- (Image: Jackie Pal)
- Introducing: Rose City Kitchen
- Introducing: Rose City Kitchen
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- The stone oven fires out 300 pitas a day. It’s also used to braise beef
- (Image: Jackie Pal)
- Introducing: Rose City Kitchen
- Introducing: Rose City Kitchen
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- The owners took a trip to Dubai to learn ancient pita-baking methods from the pros
- (Image: Jackie Pal)
- Introducing: Rose City Kitchen
- Introducing: Rose City Kitchen
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- Chickpeas are soaked overnight and blended with garlic, lemon, olive oil and spices—a classic Jordanian hummus ($2). Customers will soon be able to purchase a four-ounce container to go
- (Image: Jackie Pal)
- Introducing: Rose City Kitchen
- Introducing: Rose City Kitchen
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- The Egyptian pita comes stuffed with eggplant confit, dates, shredded lettuce, red onions, tomatoes, chickpeas and garlic oil. All sandwiches are served with a choice of beef, halloumi, chicken or falafel. (The one pictured contains braised beef) ($4.50)
- (Image: Jackie Pal)
- Introducing: Rose City Kitchen
- Introducing: Rose City Kitchen
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- The Greek comes with cubes of halloumi, house-made tzatzik, pickled red onions and oregano. (This one includes grilled chicken) ($4)
- (Image: Jackie Pal)
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- Introducing: Rose City Kitchen
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- The Moroccan melds sweet and savoury flavours with couscous, almonds, apricots, lettuce, tomatoes, chickpeas and house-made harissa. Co-owner and chef <strong>Shontelle Pinch</strong> recommends adding halloumi ($5)
- (Image: Jackie Pal)
- Introducing: Rose City Kitchen
- Introducing: Rose City Kitchen
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- Falafel poutine is made with sumac-spiced fries, hummus sauce and freshly baked falafel
- (Image: Jackie Pal)
- Introducing: Rose City Kitchen
- Introducing: Rose City Kitchen
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- Any sandwich can be spiked with RCK Hot Sauce, a fiery house-made condiment made with scotch bonnet peppers and rose petals. The owners plan to sell take-home bottles, along with other house-made sauces and pickles
- (Image: Jackie Pal)
- Introducing: Rose City Kitchen
- Introducing: Rose City Kitchen
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. The Egyptian comes stuffed with eggplant confit, chickpeas, dates and garlic oil. It pairs well with braised beef, which is cooked in the kitchen’s hot stone oven. Also on the menu: fermented veggies, a kale salad and three Middle Eastern-inspired poutines, including one topped with falafel balls and hummus.
The Place: The sunny space at the corner of Queen West and Cameron streets is a welcome addition to the burger-crowded strip. The room has 15 seats and whitewashed brick walls, one of which is plastered with a 12-foot-tall photograph of Petra, the archeological city in Jordan. In the open kitchen, a red-tiled stone oven fires out 300 pitas a day (customers can watch the pockets expand as they place their orders). This location is the first outlet in a soon-to-expand Rose City chain. The second location is slated to open this spring at Yonge and King, and a third is also in the works.
The Numbers:
• 300 pitas pulled daily from a roaring hot oven
• 12-foot vintage photograph of Petra, the archeological city in Jordan
• 6 months to renovate
• 3 house-made hot sauces, including the Cherry Harissa, which is made with stone-ground cherries
• 1 of three Rose City Kitchen locations opening in 2014
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Dayuuum that falafel hummus poutine is all I need in life
Having lived in the middle east I have a pretty good idea of what constitutes really authentic, tasty street food. Sadly, this place fails on every level. The young lady taking my order and assembling the sandwiches, I think she must have set a world record in the slowest time to prepare a falafel, she was clearly overwhelmed and it wasn’t even busy and I waited nearly half an hour for what I thought was my order but was actually the order of the people ahead of me, two falafels, she had all the ingredients at hand so I don’t know what her issues were. The owner, who is lovely, came in from the kitchen and chewed her out for “being in the weeds”, and not calling her in from the back to help. The pita has an odd texture, it’s thin and kind of sweet, for the best pita in the GTA go to Sababa in North York, its amazing, light, fluffy, tasty. I ordered the Egyptian with steak and the Moroccan with chicken, and the food was meh…not much taste really. They are next to the wildly popular Banh mi Boys and I saw that Me Va Me (an iconic Israeli eatery), is soon moving in close to them, so I doubt they will survive for long. If they really wanted to do something authentically Middle Eastern, and it would also help their service issues, they should use the system used all over the Middle East, cook the meat and falafel fresh to order and then let the customer fill their own pitas with salads, pickles and sauces at a side bar, like choosing your own condiments when you buy a hot dog at a hot dog stand.
I agree!
As a lover of all Middle Eastern cuisine, I strongly disagree that Rose City will be put out of business. They appeal to the non-middle eastern masses that appreciate these exotic foods but will probably enjoy the modern western fusion more than something so hardcore traditional with words on the menu that they don’t understand.
Great concept Rose City :) Wish you all the success.
I’m sorry to say, but this place is not good. I live in the neighborhood and was anticipating the opening as it looked so cute. The food is not even just ok, it’s terrible. The seasonings are all wrong. Things are bland that should not be bland, things have strange spice when they should have less flavor. I eat a ton of Mid East food, as I love it, and I will not be going back here. The service is ok, the people are nice, just so slow and forgetful.
Such a bummer! Great idea, just didn’t work.
Meh. Not very impressed.
Had it twice now. Decided to give it another shot today and was less than par. Decent price but certainly NOT worth the wait. I waited 20 mins for them to basically put sh*t in a pita. Wasted my whole lunch break. When I asked if my order was soon, I received a rude “I don’t know” from one of the girls behind the counter. Finally got my meal and had to eat at my desk.
Not impressed. RCK lost a customer today