Behind these three happy pigs, on the corner of 300 West and Broadway, sits a comfortable Italian cafe, Vivace. Vivace opened its doors in 2012 and has been serving our city authentic Southern Italian food at affordable prices ever since. This past month we wrote about Vivace in In magazine. Here are a few photos and notes from our experiences there.
Now, Josh and I have been spoiled to good Italian food, having recently spent over a week in Italy and tasting some of the best foods at the hands of Italian chefs. One thing we loved about Italy was the slower pace of eating. Most meals were eaten family style, sharing many dishes as well as a small carafe of house wine and could last throughout an entire evening. Vivace shares that true Italian mind-set of sharing, slow paced meals, and plenty of wine.
We started our tasty journey that night with one of the crudo dishes (small plates). The shrimp carpaccio came highly recommended but we went out on a limb and tried their escolar carpaccio, since we had never tasted or even seen this deep water fish. The dish was light with citrus and avocado on top yet bold with fresh fish flavor.
From there we decided to go with the Vivace Signature Supper Choice. If there’s an opportunity to let the chef pick your dinner, I always choose it. I find it to be a exciting way to experience a meal and chef’s often choose better than I would. The Signature Supper comes with 3 courses (antipasti, pasta, and meat) for $22 a person. The antipasti proved to be my favorite part of the experience, getting to try a full assortment of sautéed and marinated vegetables (pictured above).
The pasta came next. This was a perfect example of the chef knowing best. He chose the Bucatini alla’Amartriciana, a spicy tomato sauce with crispy pancetta served over thick round noodles. I would never have known to choose this yet ever since having the dish, I can’t wait to return to Vivace to order it again!
We then moved on to meat…porchetta, turkey, roman style lamb, lamb chops, and skewers of sausage. This dish could have easily fed a family of 4 or more yet we managed to make our way through most of it. The flavors in each meat were just too great to pass up. But, I will admit, we did take a decent sized to-go box with us home that night.
If you find yourself at Vivace, and you must, you should definitely order family style and let the chef select your chose your delicious journey for the night. After the night’s end, you will be just as happy and full as the chubby statues outside their doors.
Vivace
308 W 300 S
<a href=”http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/54/1697714/restaurant/Downtown/Vivace-Salt-Lake-City”><img alt=”Vivace on Urbanspoon” src=”http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1697714/minilogo.gif” style=”border:none;padding:0px;width:104px;height:15px” /></a>