The Stinking Rose

The Bagna Calda

I don’t think I’ve ever had a moment in a restaurant where I looked at a menu, something had garlic in the recipe, and I thought it sounded disgusting. Has anyone? I truly hope not because I absolutely love garlic on almost any food item and hope you all feel the same way. That’s why The Stinking Rose is my absolute dream come true. This restaurant is dedicated to one thing: garlic. Almost everything on the menu has garlic in it, even their ice cream. It’s hard to go wrong with any order at this place because garlic makes everything fantastic, but I have a couple must-order favorites that everyone needs to experience.

Immediately upon sitting down, I always order the Bagna Calda appetizer. Picture garlic cloves soaking in a tiny little butter-filled bathtub. This is exactly what the Bagna Calda is: garlic cloves, oven roasted and soaked in butter and olive oil. It’s served with The Stinking Rose’s house-baked focaccia bread which I use as a spoon to very unattractively shovel as much garlic into my mouth as possible. I’d recommend doing the same.

For my main dish, I always go with the Dungeness crab soaked in The Stinking Rose’s “special secret garlic sauce”. First of all, if you put the words “special” or “secret” in front of any sauce name, I’m going to eat it and probably enjoy it. There’s no exception to this sauce. It’s delicious. Even when the crab is gone, I’ve been known to eat spoonfuls of the sauce by itself. You’ll understand one day.

Lastly, The Stinking Rose really does make garlic ice cream as promised above. This ice cream is definitely unique and worth a try. You’re already going to have garlic breath for days, so why not top your meal off with garlic ice cream?. You can’t get garlic breath by just reading the menu, so check it out here!