Cosentino’s towering timpano with red sauce, ricotta and Parmesan
San Francisco’s Chris Cosentino has made his mark on Houston with his first Texas restaurant (with biz partner Oliver Wharton), Rosalie Italian Soul, in the new C. Baldwin hotel Downtown. The chef and Food Network television personality has concepts in San Francisco, Napa and Oregon, but this one is closest to his heart. “Growing up around my great-grandmother Rosalie, an Italian immigrant, I didn’t realize the effect her cooking would have on me until I decided to become a chef,” says Cosentino. “She made everything from scratch the old-world way, from handcranked pasta to tomato pie.” This kitchen, led by chef Sasha Grumman, most recently at Launderette in Austin, also extrudes homemade pastas, including blue crab manicotti with crab sauce Américaine. Traditional spaghetti and meatballs and shrimp fra diavolo share menu space with Cosentino creations like whole stuffed eggplant Parmesan, wild boar ragu, steak alla pizzaiola, tuna crudo and pizzas (one size) fired in a showy wood-burning oven. 400 Dallas St., 713.351.5790
Photography by: Julie Soefer
