ANYTHING BUT NORMAL @ ROSES CAFE Placing his hands flat on the marred desktop, the boss leans forward toward me. He squints menacingly, partially due to the low wattage bulbs he insists on using, but mostly for effect. "Word on the street is," he starts in his customary '40's detective lingo, "Rose's has opened up a new larger location. Seems a little suspicious after 18 years in the same place." "Hmm sounds Italian," I say, "I dig a little Italian sometimes" ... her name was ... never mind. Even in the dim light I could see his face darken as he spoke again. "I want you to know going in kid, this ain't your average Italian joint!" I begin to ask, "What do..."then I realize if I want out this Mickey Spilane world of dingy pull down shades, and feigned hidden agendas I'd better just pick up the address from the receptionist on the way out. As I was heading through the door, the words, "You get to the bottom of this case kid," faded slowly behind me. "Man, just once can't I have a normal..." I trailed off as I realized I've never even seen a normal, let alone thought I could have one. What would you feed ... oh yeah I gotta eat! All I knew about Rose's is that it has been a Denver favorite for 18 years and this was their brand new larger location. As I walked into the place, the words of my editor rang in my ears: "This ain't your average Italian joint!" Indeed it was not! The place is divided into three ambiances: one is decidedly oriental, another is subtly western, the last boasted a distinct Italian accent. "Well I came for Italian," I said to myself, as I was led into the Italian room by a tiny Vietnamese lady, who turned out to be none other than Rose herself! The menu shared a similar blend of cultural diversity: Vietnamese Cha Gio, Chinese Catfish, Pasta Ferlazo, quail and rib-eye steak, just to name a few! So much for preconceived notions; well, when in Rome ... or in this case, when in ... everywhere? I decided to take advantage of the menu's variety and started with Cha Gio with nuoc mam sauce (Vietnamese egg rolls with a sweet dipping sauce) absolutely awesome! I figured a spicy virgin Bloody Mary was just out of character enough for this adventure, and for a main course, Pasta New Orleans, a pasta dish consisting of charbroiled andouille sausage and jumbo shrimp served with linguini and tossed with Cajun cream. The Cajun cream is the trick; too much onion makes it too sweet, and too much paprika makes it too sharp. This was done to perfection, kinda made me want to shout AAAAIIIIEEEE! I saw the perfect desert for this mad mix of a meal: chocolate confusion! Some sort of a demented chocolate cake torte thing that almost made me pass out! On top of everything else, the service was outstanding! Between the owner Rose, the bartender L.D. and my waiter Eduardo, I was constantly attended to. I was starting to get kinda bummed about the idea of leaving, partly because it was such a good meal, but a lot of it was about turning in the story. That meant facing the whole Mickey Spilane, gumshoe thing again, "yadda yadda kid" and all that. That 'normal' question started creeping up on me, the one left unanswered so many times before ... "what would you feed a normal?" All Rights Reserved © 2001 Go-Go Media, LLC