Great food, a friendly hostess/owner with never-tiring energy making sure all guests leave satisfied, prompt and refreshingly un-French service and a lovely, well, 'comsopolitan' (!) atmosphere...means you have arrived at 'Cosmo', - as it is called by regulars.
Johanna Rossi is the owner (together with her husband) of this small , but fantastic eatery, which is located on the culinary strip just next to the Larvotto round-about. Neighbors include La Piazza, Mozza and Pulcinella. Try the eclectic menu and yummy food yourself and pop in for lunch or dinner! It's a great place to start an evening out and surely a reliable lunch spot. Johanna also spices up the restaurant's agenda with little special nights (like Crispy Duck and Chinese Food on Monday nights) and events (charity dinners) on a regular basis.
Here we catch up with Johanna herself:
How
long have you been living in Monaco and what brought you here?
I have been living in Monaco
for almost 10 years now. My husband was born here. We met whilst studying at
the same university in the UK.
Johanna Rossi of Cosmopolitan
Do
you find Monaco easy to live with children, what are the disadvantages and
advantages for living in Monaco with a family?
A lot of my clients ask me
that question! Monaco is certainly a 'safe' place to bring up children, we
don't have certain fears that other families live with. Obviously the climate
isa huge advantage during the
Winter months, my son is very active and loves being outdoors so I'm always
happy to see the blue skies! On our days off it is also great to be able to get
out of Monaco and have Italy and the
French Riviera on our doorstep. One of the big disadvantages I find now is that
Monaco becomes one big traffic jam on week days. It is dangerous navigating the traffic with a
fast moving toddler, not to mention the pollution levels. I also think as my
son gets older it will be important for him to travel and see more of the 'real world', Monaco is a
bubble and I think it is important for children growing up to have some kind of
'reality check' in the big wide world.
You
own and run a restaurant with your husband? Describe the place and menu?
Our restaurant takes after
its name 'Cosmopolitan'. The menu and the place are about bringing
together different people and tastes from around the world. There are so many different
nationalities living in Monaco and we wanted Cosmopolitan to be a place where
everyone would feel at home and find something that would be to their taste on the menu. Our menu
has a Méditerranéen base as obviously we wanted to make the most of the fresh
local produce, but we then picked out various signature dishes with Asian,
Anglo-Saxon, Indian and Chinese backgrounds that we hoped would please our
clients. Our 'top selling' dishes included our Crispy Aromatic Duck, Fish &
Chips with Mushy Peas, Seared Tuna in a Sesame Crust and of course the Banoffee
Pie! We also have quite a diverse team consisting of French, English,
Italian, Spanish and Argentinian origin so that is a great factor for the
kitchen. We designed the interior of the restaurant ourselves and wanted it to be
somewhere people would feel at home and relax. There are many constraints when
designing a restaurant so sometimes your design decisions are made for you, we
completely gutted the old restaurant and literally had to take the place back
to a shell and start over, plumbing, electrics, the lot!
What
is your favourite restaurant in Monaco (other than Cosmo) and why?
The Japanese restaurant at
the Maya Bay! It is the only restaurant I have eaten at in Monaco probably for
about 2 years. If we eat out we usually end up in Italy. The Maya Bay
has it just right, excellent
service, cleanliness, great design and most importantly good food,with no
protention!
What
is your favourite dish/recipe?
I love good honest food. Most
importantly the produce you cook with must be fresh and in season! I don't have
a favourite dish as it would be far to hard to choose. I love cooking and thankfully
my husband loves eating!
I studied design all through my adolescence and twenties
and obtained a first class honours in Interior Architecture...
Creating is my true passion, which is why I love cooking so much.
I 'make' when I can. You can see some of my work here : http://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-World-Little-Me/114408755303220
I have very little spare time but if I don't create, I
feel like something is missing. It is innate, I have a very
active imagaination and putting 'pen to paper' is a therapy for me!
Contact Info:
COSMOPOLITAN
7 rue du Portier
98000 Monaco
7 rue du Portier
98000 Monaco
t : +377 93 25 78 68
www.cosmopolitan.mc
www.cosmopolitan.mc
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| Fish & Chips (as good as in UK) |
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| Asian Carpaccio |
The restaurant inside
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