Rosemont Market & Wine Bar will have an indoor/outdoor bar. TM Petaccia/UP

by Kristen Wile

Rosemont Market & Wine Bar, the upcoming concept from 1957 Hospitality Group (The Crunkleton, Cheat’s Cheesesteaks), is nearing opening. The restaurant and food retail spot — in the new mixed-use building across the street from The Crunkleton at 7th Street and Caswell/Pecan — will begin service this spring. 

Unlike The Crunkleton, which is known for its whiskey and vintage spirits collections, Rosemont will focus on wine by the glass or by the bottle, with food meant to pair. 

The concept will be open all day, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., serving breakfast and lunch to diners with counter service before switching to full-service dining in the evenings, says 1957 Director for Concept Development Ryan Hart. Running the kitchen is former executive chef of The Asbury Mike Long. Long’s evening menu will feature both shared plates and entrées, creating an environment where guests can linger with a glass of wine and some small bites or settle in for a complete meal. There will also be an indoor/outdoor bar facing a patio space along Caswell Road. 

The front-of-house staff will be led by Bradley McClain, former hospitality manager at Peppervine and general manager at Good Food on Montford. Jacob Shorthouse, whose name you may recognize as a contributor to one of our old-fashioned kits while he was at The Porter’s House, will be behind the bar. The cocktail focus at Rosemont will be on martinis, and there will also be draft cocktails as well as a bar stocked well enough to create classic drinks like tequila sodas or negronis. 

There will be a retail selection of wines by the bottle, which can be consumed on-site with a corkage fee, as well as an extensive by-the-glass program with both white and red temperatures, ranging from affordable draft wine options to high-end selections from an eight-bottle Enomatic wine dispenser. 

“I just felt like and after discussing it with Gary [Crunkleton] that martinis would be a really elegant companion for the wine program,” Hart says. “We want it to be a little bit more elegant and refined.”

There will also be three large deli cases with high-end proteins for guests to purchase for cooking at home, as well as a planned selection of prepared foods. However, Hart says, they’re planning to adjust their offerings based on neighborhood feedback following opening. 

“Ultimately, with a place with a thousand SKUs, the neighborhood is going to decide what they want from us,” Hart says. “So we’ve really tried to talk about how we can be a great partner in the community and bring something that is valuable to the residents of Elizabeth, a.k.a. the old Rosemont.”

The opening of Rosemont is the start of a rush of activity for the restaurant group. They signed a lease on the former Stanley space, also at 7th and Pecan/Caswell, last year. A new location of The Crunkleton in Raleigh is also in the works.