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Rosheen Kaul and Joe Jones’ Little Rose Is Now Open in Fitzroy
Rosheen Kaul and Joe Jones have opened Little Rose in Fitzroy, a short-run Chinoiserie neo-bistro serving French-Asian plates, old-world wine and a martini worth moving quickly for.
Fitzroy’s most shape-shifting dining room has a new resident. Little Rose, a short-term Chinoiserie neo-bistro from chef Rosheen Kaul and mixologist Joe Jones, is now open at 274 Brunswick Street, taking over the former home of Alta Trattoria, Pipi’s North and Ragazzi Residenza until 5th July.
Kaul and Jones are joined by operators James Tait and Luke Drum, who have helped steer the room through its recent run of restaurant residencies. This latest chapter takes the framework of a French bistro and lets Kaul bend it through Asian flavour, personal history and a little delicious eccentricity.
The name carries its own thread. Little Rose follows on from Kaul’s previous restaurant, Bistro Marigold, and nods to her Irish name, Rosheen. The cooking, she says, is a more undone version of what she was doing at Marigold, less prescriptive and made for a looser kind of night.
That translates to a menu with serious bistro bones and a wandering eye. There is a vol-au-vent with sautéed oysters, oyster mushrooms and peppercorn sauce, capped with buttery puff pastry. Chilled clams and periwinkle snails arrive Chaozhou-style with garlic, coriander and vin jaune. Sautéed plates will rotate, moving through dishes such as squid with garlic chives and merguez, or mussels in lemongrass butter with crusty baguette. There is also a controversial French sausage made with Troy Wheeler of Meatsmith, which already sounds like the dish everyone will order just to have an opinion.
To finish, the menu moves into clafoutis with red kiwi and jasmine blossom, or rice water gelée with nashi pear and waxflower.
At the bar, Jones is giving the classics a sly little turn. The Little Rose Martini combines London Dry Gin with chrysanthemum vermouth, fino sherry and coconut water dilution, while the G&T lands with dandelion gin, green apple and celery tonic. The wine list, led by Tait and Drum, has an old-world French accent to sit beside the kitchen’s bistro foundations.
Kaul wants Little Rose to feel like a whole evening contained in one room: martinis, wine, bistro plates with a few wicked turns, and the rare pleasure of not needing a second address.
Need to know
Little Rose opens this Saturday, 9th May, at 274 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, for a short and delicious run until 5th July 2026. Dinner is served Wednesday to Sunday, 6pm to 11pm, with weekend lunch Saturday and Sunday, 12pm to 2.30pm.
Bookings are open now; this is the table worth moving quickly for.
Little Rose may be short-lived, but it has all the makings of a Fitzroy fixation. Book fast, order with curiosity and let the martini decide how long the night goes. For more tables worth chasing, explore our guide to Melbourne’s best new restaurants, then catch up on the latest in our top food and drink news.
