New life for this familiar downtown Fresno spot. The plan is upscale, elegant and refined

The Rosé had a soft opening on New Year’s Eve.

It was a red-carpet ordeal with dinner, dancing and a balloon drop at midnight.

It turned into an engagement party for owners Adrian Harris and Mysti Dailey.

“I’m still in awe,” says Dailey, who was surprised by the proposal and also two dozen roses and a serenade from Harris.

In a way, Harris was just leading by example.

He envisions the downtown restaurant and nightclub (which last housed the gastropub Hop PK until it closed in 2019) as the place you take your significant other for those special moments —when you want to give them roses.

There are roses throughout the dining room; on the tables and in pictures on the walls. Oversized long stem roses hang in framed boxed between the tables.

There an entire wall of roses in fact, surrounding the word Rosé in pink neon. It’s a backdrop for a 360-degree photo booth, for those looking to commemorate things on social media.

The Rosé is expected to open March 3 to coincide with downtown Fresno’s monthly Art Hop. It will offer lunch service on Thursdays and Fridays and dinner service on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The menu is still being worked out, but Dailey describes the food as Southern creole style, “elevated and refined.”

The restaurant hopes to work in a brunch menu at some point.

The bar will serve craft cocktails, wine and beer.

Along with the food, there will be special events and themed dance nights with DJs. And also poets and musicians like Jeanette Harris, Tom Scott and Bruno Mars tribute Bruno and the Hooligans.

There will be valet parking for the larger of these special events.

Before its grand opening, the Rosé is hosting Will you be my Valentine Love Affair, a dinner and dance party 6:30 p.m. Feb. 14. Tickets are $120 to $375 per couple. The event will feature food and music — and some slow dance lessons from DJ/dance instructor Peter Netzley.

Netzley is the restaurant’s general manager and says the layout of the space — with additional seating on the second floor — is perfect for the kind of diner/dances that used to happen in Fresno, at places like the Hacienda.

“As dinner dies down, we can open up the entire floor down here,” Netzley says.

The Rosé is also available for private events. More information is available at Rosefresno.com.