How to eat like the CEO (or us) at Palo Alto’s new RH Rooftop Restaurant

RH Palo Alto, the Gallery at Stanford, has thrown open its glass doors to the public. It’s the newest location in this global empire of RH furniture and lifestyle galleries that stretches from the Bay Area to Brussels and beyond.

The opening days found the CEO dining at the RH Rooftop Restaurant. Turns out Gary Friedman cares as deeply about the food as he does the color of a smoked-glass chandelier. So there he was at Stanford Shopping Center with his executive team, and they planned to work their way through the menu.

We checked in with them, as well as local influencers sitting nearby, after their lunches. Here’s our First Look:

THE LOOK: Stunning. Customers enter a spacious first-floor gallery with 13-foot ceilings where light-catching chandeliers and mirrors enhance the RH collections. It’s a contemporary Versailles, only with way more comfortable furniture. A floating double staircase leads to the second floor, which houses the RH Design Studio with meeting spaces for homeowners and designers.

The RH Rooftop Restaurant is on the third floor, with a glass conservatory design that brings the outdoors inside. Glass doors swing open to bring in fresh air; on hot days, it’s an air-conditioned oasis. The restaurant seats 150 diners around a sculpted Biancone limestone fountain flanked by live heritage olive trees and offers views of the Santa Cruz Mountains to the west and Stanford’s Hoover Tower to the southwest.

THE FOOD: Live-fire cooking features prominently in the RH kitchens. The wide-ranging, all-day menu allows you to fancy up lunch with, for example, Whole Grilled Branzino ($42), Petite Filet Mignon ($52) and Mini Lobster Rolls with Caviar (two for $40) or order casual fare at dinner like the BLT with Black Forest bacon and Bibb lettuce ($20) and Sweet Potato Fries ($10).

Signature salads include two new ones, the Grilled Shrimp & Vegetable Salad with charred zucchini, asparagus and corn ($36); and the Mulholland Drive Salad with grilled chicken, egg, beets and more ($32).

Weekend brunch goes global with a Belgian Waffle, Swedish Pancakes, French Omelette ($18 each); Italian Benedict and American Breakfast ($20 each) and more. Most of the all-day menu is also available then.

THE DRINKS: The Wine & Barista Bar, flanked by two artistic waterfall walls, pours primarily California, French, Italian and Spanish wines. By-the-glass options range from a $15 Italian pinot grigio to the $40 Silver Oak cabernet. The RH Bellini ($16) leads the list of signature cocktails well-suited to this garden setting.

MY DON’T MISS: The Shaved Ribeye Dip ($32) with Emmenthaler already sounded like a good choice, and then a waiter noted that this sandwich had passed his test for meat-to-bread ratio. Ordered! The slices of ribeye piled on the charred, lightly garlicky roll were ridiculously tender, and we liked the assertive Emmenthaler choice. Most important for sandwich dippers, the au jus was filled with flavor, not salt.

THE INFLUENCERS’ DON’T MISS: The local foodies who jump onto social media soon after a restaurant opening were wild about the Kale Caesar ($18), new to RH menus. After the San Francisco opening a couple of years ago, the Grilled Avocado with Caviar ($50, with 15 mg of caviar) — also on this menu — became an influencer darling, they said.

THE CEO’S DON’T MISS: After many rounds of taste tests, Friedman said the team decided to skip the spicy spreads and sauces and feature their brined, Fried Chicken Sando ($24) very simply with just mayonnaise and pickles on buttered brioche. He’s declared this crispy, moist bird the best around.

How sure is he of this sandwich’s appeal? Friedman shared that he had texted a photo to acclaimed Wine Country chef Thomas Keller (he of the three-Michelin-star French Laundry). When Keller responded, asking where he could get this chicken sandwich, Friedman told him it would be coming soon to the RH Yountville restaurant.

GOOD TO KNOW: Open-air furniture niches abound at this gallery. Although there’s no restaurant service for these spots, diners and shoppers are encouraged to take their wine or cocktails to enjoy on one of the many furnished terraces located outside the front door and on the second and third floors.

DETAILS: RH is located near Pottery Barn in the northeast corner of Stanford Shopping Center. The restaurant is open from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday at 180 El Camino Real, Palo Alto. For reservations, go to https://rh.com/us/en/restaurants and click on “reservations” on the RH Palo Alto page.