A Rose of a Restaurant
Lodi’s Rosewood Bar and Grill
by JAMIE MENAKER
Located almost smack-dab in the middle of Lodi’s downtown drag, what once was small-town, around-the-corner restaurant Hazel’s has been reincarnated in recent years to busy and bustling status as Rosewood Bar and Grill. With its twinkle lights and lavish awnings beckoning guests from the street (as if the prime location wasn’t enough), the eatery has been on the up and up since 2003, when Wine and Roses officially took over ownership and dubbed their sister restaurant with its rose-appropriate name. Today, the eatery has an updated look, a seasonal menu with local, organic produce from around the region, and ‘bar chefs’ behind the cherry-wood bar, creating cocktails from freshly-squeezed juices and homemade simple syrup.
On a recent night at the restaurant, general manager Scott McLeod and restaurant chef Iradh Herrera crowd around a corner of the bar tasting possible menu selections for the next season’s offerings; the menu changes twice a year for the winter and summer. At this eatery with five different sections on the menu—appetizers, soups and salads, entrees, pizza, and steaks—there’s a quite a bit to be tasted.
Originally conceptualized by Wine and Roses Hotel and Spa as the more casual counterpart to its on-site restaurant, Rosewood spans both ends of the attire spectrum. During the summer on Farmers Market evenings, the restaurant’s bar area has been known to drawn in patrons dressed down as far as shorts and flip flops, while general manager McLeod has also seen the restaurant become one of San Joaquin’s favorite hot-spots for special occasions, with diners dressed to the nines.
The menu is also reflective of this balance of casual and elegant, with pork tenderloin accompanied by vegetable couscous and a peach reduction listed right alongside Rosewood pizza, with mushrooms, pepperoni, and Italian sausage. The dishes that truly shine here are seasonal additions like the summertime mango, avocado, and shrimp dinner-sized salad, and winter’s pork osso buco with cinnamon couscous and sautéed spinach. Other standout entrées include macadamia nut-encrusted halibut, four different cuts of steak, and duck with an orange reduction.
Don’t settle in for a four course meal just yet, however. With the restaurant’s large interior space split almost down the middle between the formal dining room and the dressed-down bar area, cocktails accompanied by appetizers or salads are also a draw here for the more casual diner. The Fuji apple salad with candied pecans and blue cheese is a hands-down favorite, while the beet salad with endive, goat cheese, and the same candied pecans isn’t too far behind. On the appetizer list, house-made coconut prawns with a Thai chili dipping sauce are the winner.
With a general manager twenty-five years strong in the restaurant business, a chef who enjoys concocting new menu selections on a regular basis from fresh, local produce, ‘bar chefs’ who pour over ten specialty cocktails, and all desserts on the menu made from scratch, we can see why Rosewood’s presence is constantly felt in Lodi—and don’t expect the restaurant to be going anywhere anytime soon.
If you go: Rosewood Bar and Grill, 28 S. School St., Lodi, (209) 369-0470, www.rosewoodbarandgrill.com
