Liberty Station Reinvention: Roseville Cozinha

Grid View

• 2750 Dewey Road, Liberty Station
• Photo wall
• Bar
• Dining room

The inspiration for Michael Alves' reinvention was right under his nose. The young owner of Joao's Tin Fish Bar & Eatery in Liberty Station (behind ACE Hardware) had given his franchise of the casual seafood chain an upscale twist that wasn't getting the response he'd hoped for, so he closed up shop temporarily and will open to the public on Saturday as a proprietor of a place that's much closer to his heart.

The new Roseville Cozinha aims to honor the two fishing communities — Portuguese and Italian — that anchor the Point Loma neighborhood also known as Tunaville, with dishes inspired by his family, including his grandmother's recipe for cioppino and a Portuguese sausage and egg stew.

Much of the decor is unchanged from the restaurant's previous incarnation, including the walls lined with vintage photos that reflect the fishing heritage of Alves' immediate and extended family. The biggest switch was turning a pre-existing wine room into a new home for a shiny red wood-fired pizza oven. Alves did some training with a Neapolitan pizza champ in San Francisco in preparation to make his pies, which will cook up in a mere 90 seconds at a blistering 900 degrees. Roseville Cozinha's chef, Craig Jimenez (The Guild, Craft & Commerce) will also be mastering the rotisserie and turning out porchetta and roasted chicken; Jimenez shared that he was excited about doing a lot of from-scratch cooking and sourcing from local fisherman and farms — chef work that he wasn't able to do at his previous post.

Roseville Cozinha also has a new craft cocktail menu, a long list of craft beers and a curated wine list that features Portuguese and Italian imports and bottles produced by stateside Portuguese and Italian winemakers.
Roseville Cozinha
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