Lunch c/o In Riva

So the Saturday before last was relatively full of activity. The morning and early afternoon was given over to work. Then I drove over to East Falls to meet up with my visiting aunt MR at In Riva. MR was staying with her cousin in that general direction, and isn't very familiar with the roads of Philly, so I thought In Riva might be a good place to dine, as it wouldn't be too far from where her cousin lives, has a nice view, and is relatively hard to miss. We sat outside on what was a very nice and sunny day. The restaurant is located on Kelly Drive, just four lanes of traffic away from the Schuylkill. We had a nice glimpse of the river from our table, though you'll note that the bigger view was mainly one of a bike. MR was already there when I arrived but they had waited to seat her until I presented myself. So, once we were settled at an outside table (zero patrons chose to sit inside, though the interior doesn't have a terrible vibe to it) I ordered the Solari cocktail: limecello, amaro, cava, mint. Delightfully refreshing. Very pleased was I with this concoction.

MR and I both ordered starters. This was the carciofi fritti, fried artichoke with an olive tapenade in a pool of lemon yogurt. The lemon aspect didn't totally get into every bite, and the tapenade was definitely on the salty side, but all in all an enjoyable way to start the meal. MR had spicy mussels in a tomato broth, which were pretty great.

We then split the pepperoni pizza.

The dough was nice and crisp and the crust's char was well done I thought. They certainly didn't skimp on the cheese or pepperoni.

A great al fresco meal. Thanks to MR for the lunch!