After spending the spring indoors, Californians are certainly missing the simple pleasures, such as hitting the town for dinner and a movie. This summer, residents of the Pasadena luxury condos, townhomes and penthouses at Terraces at the Ambassador Gardens are bringing date night home with meals and movies that celebrate the City of Angels. Keep reading for our Tinseltown-inspired food and film pairings!

Start the summer off on an upbeat note with Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land,” a recent entry in the canon of Los Angeles films that have become instant classics. Starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, the movie combines old Hollywood style with a contemporary setting to update the age-old story of young people moving to the city to find their fortune and the love of their life. Before starting the movie, set up a nice table on your private Pasadena terrace and cook up another contemporary L.A. favorite: the sriracha turkey burger, which combines a leaner meat with Asian-inspired flavors to create a true California delicacy.

Longtime Los Angelenos and new arrivals alike will appreciate Robert Altman’s barbed portrait of the city in “Short Cuts.” Set in the early days of the 1990s and featuring a star-studded cast (Robert Downey Jr., Julianne Moore, and Frances McDormand, to name just a few), the film follows an astonishingly varied array of characters as their lives intersect over the course of a few days. Leave the sliding glass doors open and let in the night air while you watch the movie, and make sure to whip up some refreshing passion fruit mojitos before hitting the play button.

Released just last year, Los Angeles muse Quentin Tarantino’s latest film is a loving depiction of his adopted hometown. “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood” is part revisionist history and part buddy film, and every frame is infused with a passion for the city and the people of Los Angeles. Before starting the film, you’ll want to grill up some chili-glazed pork belly and prepare a taco spread in your state-of-the-art chef’s kitchen.

Why not cap off your summer date nights with a film that needs no introduction. “The Big Lebowski” may be the greatest film ever made about Los Angeles, at once paying homage to and skewering an entire cast of characters who could only exist in and around Hollywood. For this screening, try your hand at making one of Southern California’s famous fast food delicacies, the In-N-Out Double-Double, Animal Style cheeseburger.

If you’re still craving the out-of-home movie experience, look no further — just minutes from your Terraces home, Jane Rosenthal and Robert DeNiro’s Tribeca Film is hosting a pop-up drive-in movie theater in Pasadena. The drive-in theater will be at the Rose Bowl Stadium from July 2nd through the 26th. Featuring a fantastic lineup from classics such as Jaws and The Goonies, to new and intriguing documentaries like Tangled Roots, this is one event you won’t want to miss.

Thanks to the magic of cinema and the comfortable residences at Terraces at the Ambassador Gardens, a summer at home can be memorable and fun. So, head over to the Terraces website to learn about our virtual home-buying experience and find your new home today!