Phantom Gourmet: Rosebud American Kitchen In Somerville

SOMERVILLE – The Rosebud has been a local landmark in Somerville for decades. It's now been reborn with a new menu and a new chef, who knows his way around a grill.

Chef John Delpha loves competition barbecue. So, he's taken all of the things he's learned in the heat of competition across the country, and brought them to Rosebud American Kitchen.

"I'm a generally competitive person." Delpha explained. "I try to succeed at everything I do."

The time, the tenderness, and the smoke it takes to deliver perfect BBQ every time he compete,s is what drives Delpha.

"You're cooking outdoors against the elements. Everything is a variable. So you have to juggle and manage so many things especially if you're cooking with live fire," said Delpha.

Located in Davis Square, the Rosebud has been a Somerville institution since the 1940s.

"It's a historic landmark here in Davis Square. We've taken the building apart inside, updated some paint and left the facade the way it is and just changed everything completely from what the Rosebud used to be," Delpha said.

While it may look small from the outside, customers are pleasantly surprised once they walk in. At the new Rosebud, they've gutted the inside and created a warm, welcoming environment with comfortable red leather booths, dim lighting, and a long bar where bartenders shake up exquisite craft cocktails.

"They're really shocked at how big the back of the room is, because they were just expecting to come into a diner car," Delpha added.

Customers are even more surprised when they get a load of the menu, lined with the best dishes John perfected over his years on the BBQ circuit.

"Learning that stuff along the way has definitely helped me incorporate a great smoke program into the menu of the restaurant," the chef said.

So back in the kitchen, armed with a J&R Little Red Smokehouse Smoker, Delpha cooks St. Louis Ribs slathered in a sweet heat sauce, and smoked chicken wings with an agave glaze. An appetizer that you won't find on many menus in these parts is Delpha's Atomic BTs.

"Well the Atomic BTs are a fun party style type of appetizer that is very prevalent on the competition BBQ circuit. The real terminology stands for Atomic Buffalo Turds - that will probably get edited - but maybe we'll refer to them as Atomic Buffalo Treats," Delpha jokes.

These "treats" are jalapeno peppers filled with cream cheese and barbecue pork, wrapped in bacon and coated with a flavorful spice rub before spending some time in the smoker. After a few hours, they're coated in Rosebud's sweet heat sauce.

"There's a good amount of brown sugar in here, some ketchup, Worcestershire and the heat just really comes from fresh ground black pepper," explains Delpha. "So then we'll just pop those back into the smoker to let that glaze get a little tighter."

According to him, the results are mind altering.

"They taste like a creamy oozy BBQ bacon explosion. Sweet and salty and smoky. Our servers do a good job of explaining to people what they are, but until you've had one you really can't get the gist of what it is."

Another smoking hot popular dish is John's BBQ Baconator Meatloaf Fatty Delpha describes a Fatty as "something that's out on the competition BBQ circuit," but he adds that it is really just a roll of sausage that has a beautiful smoke ring around the outside.

"Ours is stuffed with Applewood smoked slab bacon and seasoned with our BBQ rub. And then we cook it in the smoker. It gets a nice, intense smoky flavor on the outside, a really nice smoke ring, and then we grill it to finish it," the chef said.

Served alongside buttery smashed potatoes and topped with a poblano onion gravy, this meatloaf isn't the kind you grew up on.

"It's definitely an ode to diner food and maybe a little bit of history of where the Rosebud came from, said Delpha. "But it's also an amped up version of homestyle cooking that mom would make."

The Texas Rachel in a Skirt is a BBQ spin on a Reuben. Loaded up with smoked brisket, BBQ onions, creamy slaw and horseradish, this pretty sandwich puts her skirt on, and does it right on the grill. Delpha puts cheddar and American cheeses on and around the bread so it creates a skirt around the sandwich.

"Generally they take a little bite of the skirt and a bite of the sandwich, and they can pick off little pieces of the crispy cheese. Just a fun little sandwich to eat," Delpha says.

Also off the griddle is Rosebud's classic Cheese Burger. Served on a sesame bun, this burger is topped with lettuce, pickles, cheese and something called WGS, which stands for "wicked good sauce."

"When you bite into it, you get a little briny pickle and then you get the sauce oozing down over the top of the burger and then you get that nice creamy American cheese," Delpha describes.

When he's working with BBQ, Delpha has also been known to experiment a bit with Asian flavors, like in the Dry Fried Green Beans - a Szechuan/Southern mash-up made with smoked pork shoulder.

Then there's the so-called "It's Not Ramen" pork noodle soup. Call it hot, call it delicious. Just don't call it ramen.

"The BBQ Pork 'It's Not Ramen Noodle Soup' is called that because it's not ramen," said Delpha. "It's got Korean ingredients in it. It's got Japanese ingredients in it. It's got Chinese ingredients in it and it's got American style ingredients in it. So it can't possibly be called ramen."

Loaded up with pork butt, noodles, bok choy and Korean Chili paste, this bowl of soup is sensational.

"It's just a really good wonderful bowl of soupy goodness," said Delpha.

If you still have some room, try a Rosebud Pie. It's always tough to pass up, because they greet you right at the door.

"We have a beautiful display case that you walk in and the first things you see are five or six different pies and hopefully get your mouth watering and making you think about saving room for dessert," explains Delpha.

Just like his food, Delpha likes to keep the feel of the restaurant down home.

"There's nothing upscale about the Rosebud. We're family dining, friendly dining, fun dining," he said. "It's all about good honest food, honest cocktails and just serving really good food to the neighborhood and anybody else that wants to come visit the neighborhood."

You can find Rosebud American Kitchen at 381 Summer Street in Somerville, and online at rosebudkitchen.com.

Watch Phantom Gourmet on Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30 and 11 a.m. on myTV38.