The Rath al Fresco
22 Jul 2013
The very first thing I was smitten with when we moved to Pasadena was that you can eat dinner outside without a coat on. I couldn’t love the Bay area any more than I do, but dining al fresco there usually felt vaguely similar to being inside a refrigerator. A very beautiful refrigerator, but a refrigerator nonetheless. For the first few months after we moved here, I am sure we were obvious Bay area transplants because we never went anywhere without a hoodie. Eventually we learned that most summer days lead to warm nights, which makes me happy because it reminds me of Memphis. All this is to say, summer nights are pretty blissful here, and the Athenaeum makes them even more lovely. On Thursday and Friday nights they serve a casual dinner outside on the lawn. It’s called the Rath al Fresco (short for the beloved Rathskellar, where dinner is served in the winters), and it’s so awesome that I actually made hitting it up a monthly goal for July. We were out of groceries by Thursday, so it wasn’t hard to convince Eric that this was the thing to do on Friday night.
They have a really fun menu with new stuff every summer (come to me, potato pea samosas), but when it’s crowded, your best bet is the bbq buffet.
It’s so much food, and it is so deliriously good. This plate reminds me of the bbq party we had at my parents’ house a few nights before our wedding: good times!
I can’t even tell you how good it smelled.
My companion was even hungrier than I was, or perhaps I just opted to save more room for the ice cream sundae.
Ice cream sundaes…
make me a happy girl. A blurry, happy girl.
One of my favorite things about the Rath al Fresco is that they hang three pretty lanterns from this stately tree. Can you see them on the right side? We sat almost underneath them this time, and I loved it. I feel like I have had a series of epiphanies this year (an epiphaseries?) about seizing all the treasures of the place where I live, about making it my home, about taking every opportunity to explore and celebrate the things that make the place I live so distinctive. It has been so much fun adding each little sparkling bead to the chain of reasons why it’s pretty great here. This is most definitely one of them. One that catches the light and echoes it back to you.
Jul 22, 2013 @ 04:17:01
I like the lanterns too. It does seem like it would be a great experience. And I assure you, the professor would not need a hoodie! 😉
Jul 24, 2013 @ 21:45:15
Thank you! It’s a fleeting pleasure, but it is a bright spot in these hot summers!
Jul 22, 2013 @ 07:19:58
A summer delight! You are so good at finding beautiful and fun treasures and then enjoying them.
Jul 24, 2013 @ 21:45:45
Oh, thank you! I feel the very same about you. Was totally amazed/impressed by your bead and sewing supply stash! 🙂
Jul 22, 2013 @ 07:54:50
‘One that catches the light and echoes it back to you.’ I just love that sentence, it’s marinating in my mind 🙂 Eating out is brief here, it’s either too hot or too cold or too breezy or too humid. I guess I’m like Goldilocks!!
Jul 24, 2013 @ 21:46:56
Thank you so much! That means so much coming from you because you always write so beautifully. I know what you mean–back in Memphis, if it’s warm enough to eat outside, then there’s a good chance you’ll be eaten by mosquitos! Either that, or the humidity! Hope you enjoy it when you can:)
Jul 22, 2013 @ 08:39:50
that sounds perfect.
Jul 24, 2013 @ 21:47:44
You can’t go wrong with barbecue!
Jul 22, 2013 @ 15:06:36
I’ll take a dinner plate like Eric’s and a dessert plate like yours. Looks delicious!
Jul 24, 2013 @ 21:48:27
You cutie:) Apropos of nothing, tonight I told Eric the buffalo story for the first time. I had no idea I hadn’t told him about that before, but it cracked him up!
Jul 23, 2013 @ 21:09:31
Hey, I like two Eat to, y’all know!
Jul 24, 2013 @ 21:54:08
Ha, I know, sorry! We really only make it there about once a summer. But will keep you in mind!