"Damask Rose in North Oakland has roots in both 1951 Coffee and La Cocina. Batool Rawoas is more than the barista at Oakland’s new Damask Rose coffee shop. She’s also the general manager, part-owner, and founder. After a few months of business planning, she and her family cut the ribbon at the shop’s grand opening in mid-April. The stop is a new and separate venture from Rawoas family’s first business, Old Damascus Fare, a catering company that worked with the La Cocina program in 2018. COVID, of course, was a tremendous blow — so the family called it quits. Now Damask Rose offers a blend of specialty coffee and Mediterranean food; the shop’s most popular drink, a rose latte, is representative of that intersection. The store is also wreathed in colorful floral decorations; the walls painted an eye-catching salmon pink. Damask Rose brews Steeltown Roasters, a specialty coffee business out of Pittsburgh, but is looking to roast their own beans in the future. But that doesn’t mean Damask Rose has any less show-stopping food: the handmade Mediterranean flatbread is a go-to option for customers who want a bite with their cardamom cold brew. Muhammara, a flatbread with red peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, onions, olive oil and spices — a vegan option — is right up there with the zaatar, a flatbread with thyme, sesame seeds, and olive oil (also vegan). The lahm bi ajeen flatbread highlights lamb rather than veggies, and is the number one choice for the meat eaters at the shop, Rawoas says." - Paolo Bicchieri
