It was a warm day in Pasadena a couple weeks back but I was really in the mood for a cup of soup for lunch, as I was killing time before heading over to the Norton Simon Art Museum. Walking along Colorado Avenue (the main drag there), I checked out the special boards on a couple of restaurants, but everyone of them seemed to be featuring tomato soup. I like tomato soup well enough, but I can get it most anywhere, so I kept looking. Eventually I got sidetracked (ended up in a record store, as I recall) and afterward decided to head to the Museum (I had limited time to see the collection, because I also wanted to get to the Huntington Library that afternoon). So I went to the museum, saw some fine pieces (especially enjoying their early modern European galleries), and got progressively more hungry. Like most such places, they had a cafe, out in the sculpture garden, so I figured I'd grab a bite there before heading over to the Huntington. As luck would have it, they had soup on the menu; and, as luck would have it, it was tomato bisque. So that's what I had. It was okay, and it was enjoyable eating looking out over the garden (see below). But I wonder-- why did it seem like all the restaurants that day were serving tomato soup? Is this some kind of Thursday tradition in Southern California? Are tomatoes as ubiquitous in Pasadena as roses? I don't know what the story is, but I hope the next time I visit I can get something else.
It was a warm day in Pasadena a couple weeks back but I was really in the mood for a cup of soup for lunch, as I was killing time before heading over to the Norton Simon Art Museum. Walking along Colorado Avenue (the main drag there), I checked out the special boards on a couple of restaurants, but everyone of them seemed to be featuring tomato soup. I like tomato soup well enough, but I can get it most anywhere, so I kept looking. Eventually I got sidetracked (ended up in a record store, as I recall) and afterward decided to head to the Museum (I had limited time to see the collection, because I also wanted to get to the Huntington Library that afternoon). So I went to the museum, saw some fine pieces (especially enjoying their early modern European galleries), and got progressively more hungry. Like most such places, they had a cafe, out in the sculpture garden, so I figured I'd grab a bite there before heading over to the Huntington. As luck would have it, they had soup on the menu; and, as luck would have it, it was tomato bisque. So that's what I had. It was okay, and it was enjoyable eating looking out over the garden (see below). But I wonder-- why did it seem like all the restaurants that day were serving tomato soup? Is this some kind of Thursday tradition in Southern California? Are tomatoes as ubiquitous in Pasadena as roses? I don't know what the story is, but I hope the next time I visit I can get something else. 
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