Ah, those crisp fall nights on the patio

Attendees and balloonists alike will need something other than food-truck snacks when winding down after a long day: a rooftop patio in the temperate air beckons from Old Town at Seasons Rotisserie & Grill.

Oh, sure, the balloons are here year-round, flying by the handfuls on calm mornings, skirting the river en route to a touchdown spot. Many balloonists are local, and just like the zillions of visitors this town takes in during the fiesta, residents will be kicking up their heels and eating out to relax and celebrate. They begin by stepping through the doors of Seasons. In the evening, the main dining area is upscale but not stuffy; all occasions are appropriate, from date night to a functional business lunch.

	Seasons Rotisserie & Grill LOCATION: 2031 Mountain NW, just east of Rio Grande, 766-5100, www.seasonsabq.com HOURS: Lunch, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Mondays-Fridays; dinner, 5-10 p.m. daily; cantina, 4-10 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays, 4 p.m.-11 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays FULL BAR

Take the stairs behind the front desk and you’ll enter the vivacious part of Seasons – the Cantina. High tables dominate an indoor area, but with the open patio there’s hardly a choice – the patio wins every time. Even when the sun dips low, residual heat or a sweater will carry you through long enough to enjoy the mixed crowd, both boisterous and serenely exhausted after a long day of sightseeing or ballooning. Start with cocktails – the house recipes strike a balance between creativity and complexity, with special featured creations discounted before 6:30 each evening.

By now it should be well established that out-of-season tomatoes ought not be anywhere near a good restaurant’s larder. Late summer drives home this point with the heirlooms bursting off the vine and offering up an Heirloom Caprese Salad ($9.50) with thick rounds of fresh mozzarella and peppery olive oil. A heartier way to experience these orbs is in the Heirloom Tomato & Grilled Cheese Sandwich ($9.75); I personally had a many-year era in which grilled cheese was the be-all, end-all in comfort food.

Eighteen years is how long this spot has had to perfect and then maintain its crispy Rotisserie Chicken ($16.75), a successful interplay of thin skin and juicy meat. Side dishes are seasonally delightful; I scarfed all of my buttery roasted summer squash before taking over the rest from the plate across the table.

Compared with the grilled cheese days, comfort to me nowadays has a pinker hue and qualifiers such as “medium rare” – Seasons tempts with a Center Cut Beef Sirloin ($24).

Past visits found me in love with the Crème Brûlée; this time it was replaced with a strange middle-ground dessert, the Flourless Chocolate Torte & Crème Brûlée Duo ($6), which had a thin custard layer on top of the chocolate torte. We certainly didn’t send it back, but I’d prefer a perfect rendition of one of the two components. Better was the Dark Cherry Tart ($6): small, rich, and accompanied by bourbon ice cream – nothing wrong with that.