With a menu created by a Michelin-starred chef and a retro vibe thanks to its location in the renovated 60-year-old mid-century-style City Center hotel, Chef Philip Pretty’s highly anticipated second Long Beach restaurant Olive & Rose opened its doors this month.
And the chef, who earned Long Beach’s first Michelin star in 2023 for his seasonal tasting-menu driven restaurant Heritage, says this menu is filled with some of the best dishes he’s ever cooked.
“I feel like this is a culmination of the last 20 years of my career. It’s things I’ve fallen in love with and really liked throughout that process,” said Pretty, who opened the spot with his sister and business partner Lauren Pretty on Oct. 2.
Named after the chef’s daughters, the 32-seat minimally decorated restaurant sports soft colors with light wood tables and green bench chairs and overlooks the newly renovated hotel and pool. While it’s a retro-cool look, all of the attention will be on the menu with food Pretty describes as coming from a neo-bistro menu, meaning its his take on a French bistro with California influences.
Here are some of three must-have dishes at Olive & Rose.
Michelin-starred chef Philip Pretty’s highly anticipated second Long Beach restaurant Olive & Rose opened its doors this month. (Photo by Kristin Riesgo)
Octopus with potato and pimento
This gorgeous looking and surprisingly filling dish features an unbelievably tender octopus mixed with hearty and creamy potato, a crunchy celery, smoked almonds and pimento, which adds a perfect bit of spice. It’s all sprinkled with a bit of garlic aioli which the chef says binds all the ingredients together. “The octopus is definitely something that’s near and dear to my heart. I’ve cooked thousands over my career,” Pretty said.
Michelin-starred chef Philip Pretty’s highly anticipated second Long Beach restaurant Olive & Rose opened its doors this month. (Photo by Kristin Riesgo)
Roast Chicken with foraged mushroom and jus
As far as Pretty is concerned, a bistro must have an outstanding chicken dish, and this one is as outstanding as it gets. “With the chicken dish we had to make sure it was perfect because everybody grades you on your chicken in a French bistro,” Pretty said. The chef uses the high end Jidori chicken breast which he brines and dries. He crisps the chicken by roasting it in a steel pan. The result is a juicy tender chicken with a chicharron-like skin texture. It’s doused in a jus that’s made from chicken stock using the Jidori chicken bones. The stock is then mixed with an onion sous vide, which gives it a French onion soup flavor.
Michelin-starred chef Philip Pretty’s highly anticipated second Long Beach restaurant Olive & Rose opened its doors this month. (Photo by Richard Guzman)
Aged rib cap With frites and Au Poivre
This is Pretty’s take on steak frites, which he wanted to make as memorable as possible. “For me it needed to be a steak that you can talk about,” he said. So he uses an aged rib cap which is nicely charred on the outside and cooked rare on the inside. While customers will undoubtedly talk about the steak, Pretty may have shot himself in the foot with this one because he paired it with the most unbelievably delicious fries you can imagine, which is likely what a lot of customers will be talking about when they order this dish. They’re perfectly fried on the outside but not at all greasy, while the inside taste almost like mashed potatoes. “We obsessed over the fries for a long time just to figure out the best potato, the best way to cook, the best way to store them and we ended up with something we’re definitely proud of,” Pretty said. But how exactly does he make them taste so good? The chef is keeping this one a secret. “That’s just a part of the magic,” he joked.
Olive & Rose
When: 5-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday
Where: 255 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach
Information: 562-825-8009 or oliveandrose.fullbellyfoodgroup.com
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