Kicks! Quicks | Rose’s Kitchen offerings satisfy N.Y. Italian tastes

I love Myrtle Beach, and during my years of part-time living here, I happily find new things to love about it all the time. As a native Brooklynite, however, I’ve discovered one problem — to cook our favorite Italian meals at home, some key ingredients seem to be scarce to nonexistent. It was during a random stop in a small Carolina Forest bagel store that amazingly we’ve discovered everything we need to satisfy our gastronomic cravings — Rose’s Kitchen.

Freshly made mozzarella cheese, still warm! A glance in the freezer showed more familiar, although frozen, favorites — fresh pasta! Ring sausage! Real New York City Italian bread! These are things that will make any Italian’s heart happy, and my husband positively glowed as he gazed inside the case. We scooped up our favorites and hurried home with hopes high.

We were particularly anxious about the frozen Italian bread, as it really is difficult to get the crusty-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside New York bread here in town, or almost anyplace else for that matter — I guess it really is the water. We put it in a warm oven and, maybe a bit cynically, laid out our feast. An hour later, still crunching our way through the bread and cheese, we knew this small store held some big surprises. On a return trip, we discovered the owners are New York natives, and yes, the Italian bread is delivered from a local New York bakery.

Now, Rose’s is definitely not, as we say in New Yawk, simply a salumeria and indeed is a cozy, full-service restaurant serving home-style breakfast and lunch. Start off your morning with a variety of eggs in any style, French toast or pancakes, all with your choice of bacon, sausage, turkey, pork roll or ham. There’s a wide assortment of freshly baked bagels, too, perfect with your favorite cream cheese or maybe even some lox, as in the Bagel & Lox Platter, complete with cream cheese, tomato, onion and capers.

If lunch is on the menu, bring your appetite to Rose’s Kitchen. Numerous choices of sandwiches, paninis and wraps, from chicken to ham, to roast beef and more are just a starting point. The salads are homemade and appear in all varieties, from everyone’s favorite tuna and chicken salad, to Greek and the delicious Waldorf Salad made with chicken salad, fruits and nuts. There are also very tasty heroes, or subs, at Rose’s, both hot and cold. We really enjoyed the Eggplant Parmesan and Italian Sausage with Pepper and Onions, despite the inappropriate addition of a pickle — I have nothing against pickles, but they do not go with Italian heroes. Just sayin’.

The lunch choice becomes a bit more difficult with juicy hamburgers, hot dogs, BLTs, Philly Cheesesteaks and Reubens in the mix. Soups are also on the menu at Rose’s, with the convenient option of the Half-&-Half — soup with half of one of the tasty sandwiches — which is a great way to pick your favorites for next time. There are also some sweet things for the sweet tooth, including tiramisu, cannoli, assorted muffins and crumb cake.

The prices at Rose’s Kitchen are moderate, with breakfasts in the $3.25 to $6.99 range and lunches from $3 to $8.50 for a 12-inch sub. The specialty items, such as the ring sausage and mozzarella, are in the $6 to $8 range. Rose’s even caters, offering trays of meat and cheeses as well as homemade lasagna and other Italian specialties.

This story was originally published May 6, 2015 at 4:45 AM with the headline "Kicks! Quicks | Rose’s Kitchen offerings satisfy N.Y. Italian tastes."