They originally met in 2003 at the Pennsylvania Ave. Pour House (called Politki back then) in Washington D.C. Rose was bartending full time when Mike and Friends bought the whole place. Rose + Mike a shared taste for the road less traveled + dive bar culture. Rose took the travel thing pretty seriously + moved to Russia with her husband David for 3 years, traveling to over 30 countries while on the road. They ended their globetrotting by taking the Trans Siberian Railway across Russia. On the trip Rose conceived of what we all know today as Compass Rose. She came home + called her old friend Mike to see if he wanted to help her open a bar. That bar became their first project together and the very beginning of a movement that is now called No White Plates.

Rose recently launched her own wine brand, Go There Wines, and is in process of writing a cookbook set to release November 2023. Mike owns and operates several award-winning bar concepts in Capitol Hill: Eastern, Barrel, and Trusty's. 

As for what’s next, you’ll see….