Rose Cafe in Venice gets a face-lift by DEX Design Studio

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

The Rose Cafe in Venice turns 30 this year, and owners Manhar Patel and Kamal Kapur decided it was time for a face-lift. Venice designer Glen Bell of DEX Design Studio recently completed the first phase of a remodel whose elements -- the overhead trellis, the fire pit, the built-in benches that float over the landscape -- are ideas that could translate to customers’ own backyard patios. ‘This restaurant patio is meant to have a residential scale and quality to make people feel at home,’ Bell says. More photos and design details after the jump ...

The photo at right (by DEX Design Studio) shows how an old-growth coral tree at the back entrance serves as a jumping-off place for the new self-service patio. (Evening dining in the patio is scheduled to begin Sept. 1.)

Bell designed a series of floating decks and concrete planters to nestle around the tree. The verdant canopy of branches gives shade to customers and delivers bright red blossoms overhead.

In the photo below (by Andrew Paules), mangaris wood slats partially enclose the alfresco structure. A large fire pit on an upper deck and new overhead heaters make the outdoor space cozy on chilly Venice nights.

Rose Cafe’s exterior sports a new color palette and signage. The restaurant’s rose-colored wall paint has been replaced with dusty green Hardie planks. Warm gray aluminum letters spell out ‘rose’ and the numbers ‘79,’ a tribute to the year the cafe was founded. (Photo courtesy of DEX Design Studio.)

-- Barbara Thornburg

Top photo: Customers enjoy the new self-service area designed by Glen Bell of DEX Design Studio. Credit: Andrew Paules