What to Eat at Ricardo Zarate's Upcoming Melrose Dinner Spot Rosaliné

Now that Ricardo Zarate’s next restaurant has a name — it’s Rosaliné, after his mother— it’s time to start focusing on the food. The comeback Peruvian chef is hoping to coalesce his years of experience working various forms of his native cuisine into one dinner destination on Melrose, doing finer dining fare that still seems casual and fun.

LA Weekly takes a closer look at a few of the hinted-at dishes in Zarate’s upcoming arsenal, including a beautiful looking tuna ceviche salad. Done with large chunks of tuna in an elegant bowl laced with wasabi and pickled vegetables, the dish is a mashup of Japanese and Peruvian seafood sensibilities. At the other end of the spectrum is the bun con chicharron, a Momofuku-esque fusion of slow-cooked pork belly wrapped inside a brown butter bun and lacked with a smoked sweet potato puree.

Of course there’s no full menu for Rosaliné just yet, but with product photos and detailed ingredient lists flying around it seems likely that one is coming together fast. As for the space, well, that’s another story altogether. Zarate has taken over the long-dormant Comme Ca space on Melrose and is apparently giving the place a thorough once-over, opening the place up to the sunlight and configuring things to his own personal liking. Even though a few in-progress dishes have begun to sneak out, you shouldn’t expect to see Rosaliné up and running until late this summer.