A0E4=>DB
ARCADIA: OUTDOOR
AL FRESCO EATIN’ A few of our favorite places to dine out of doors
Ravenous Serving in-the-know locals in an old cottage just one block off the town’s main square, Ravenous Cafe & Lounge might not look like much from the outside. And in all the right ways, it isn’t. Thank God. This results in required reservations, as drop-in wait times can be long, but it’s worth it. With hardwood floors, wrought-iron fixtures, live music on weekends and menus elegantly handwritten in Old World cursive, Ravenous is the rare restaurant that remembers to keep the service helpful, the food fancy but the atmosphere distinctly casual—and that goes double for the patio out back. With less than 50 seats inside, the back patio’s the place that really hops on weekends, with a separate bar where cocktails featuring fruit from a nearby
20
07.28.10-08.03.10
THE BOHEMIAN
orchard are served to those Healdsburg twenty-somethings with unexplainable reserves of cash flow and hair products. Paper lanterns, wooden tables, wheelbarrows and lattice complement the conversation, snippets of which are far more interesting than at most Michelin-rated restaurants in the area. There’s an alley down the side to get to the street without rowing through the sea of people inside the restaurant, and patio diners rarely go ignored by the waitstaff. A perfect respite from starched linens and heightened noses, this one. 420 Center St., Healdsburg. 707.431.1302.—Gabe Meline
Barndiva There are people who are glad— thrillingly, actually glad—to live in