Vivande Porta Via

Walking down Fillmore Street the other day, I was shocked and saddened to see that Vivande Porta Via had closed. I have many fine memories of dining here over the years, from my first visit fresh out of college in the yuppie era to the days of dot com excess and all the ups and downs of the rollercoaster economy in this present day, Vivande was always there for me as a great neighborhood place to dine on fresh housemade pasta and wine. It was a wonderful place to have a cozy, romantic, rainy day lunch with someone special.
Vivande was not a fancy restaurant, but rather half Italian deli/​marketplace and half restaurant. This place was a neighborhood icon and I didn’t think it would ever close. I thought it was another casualty of the recent economy, but according to another Unilocaler’s review, that wasn’t the case.
The closure of Vivande Porta Via is a true loss to the neighborhood and will most definitely be missed… hoping someone might re-​open it under the same name, much like what happened to the Elite Café. Maybe the people behind SPQR, Florio, or A16. Now that would be something.

Vivande had my favorite house made pasta in all of SF, and I have always had an amazing dining experience here, food, service, wine, everything.
So imagine how sorry I was to walk by the restaurant today and see that it has closed, as of 12÷31÷09.
I will miss this restaurant so much. I was making plans just two days ago to introduce friends to Vivande and the beggar’s purse.
So sorry to see it close. Evidently, unlike many small businesses, this is not due wholly to the economy. A letter to the customers, posted on the window, explains that the chef/​owner lost his sense of smell and taste in an automobile accident a few years ago, and that is one of the driving forces behind the closure.
My best wishes to the former owners and many thanks for the wonderful meals I’ve had over the years!

I always get the beggar’s purse. This review is soley for that entrée. It is delicious. Please try it and you will not be disappointed.
I have even tried recreating it at home. No a major fail but its one of those dishes that can consume my thoughts when I’ve had a bad day or been splashed by a MUNI puddle.

We have frequented Vivande a handful of times and although have enjoyed the wine menu and delicious pastas, my past few experiences have been less than stellar.
A girlfriend of mine and I recently had an early dinner here– she was not drinking and eating lightly as she is expecting and I had a late meeting so kept it to one glass of wine and an appetizer.
I am not going to re-​hash the blatant annoyance and attitude our waiter seemed to have with our low-​money making table. Let’s just say that for an Italian restaurant– they seemed to have imported the European waitstaff attitude as well…
I’ve spent my college years waiting tables and have zero tolerance for poor attitude in service. I always tip well (Even with mediocre service) and seriously considered a 10% tip. (for me BIG deal)
Apologies Vivande… as the food and wine are good here, I will return if craving quality Italian, let’s just hope the service can take it up a notch…

I love their small cucina setting.
I love the walls and lighting too, although decorations in this place is rather minimal.
Food here is pretty good.
But they changed their menu and now they stopped serving my favorite risotto. Pasta here is pretty good, but that risotta was hella good!!! Also, I am not sure but I think the number of selections were decreased, too.
I made it clear when I visited last that I want the risotto back on the menu, but we will see.
Good wine!!! I am sucka for Italian wines, but still. This place is great for wines and a little pasta (although I barely can finish one order).
Staff are very kind and nice, but there are evenings I feel this place might be understaffed that I had to wait for a while.
So, –0.5 for getting rid of my favorite dish (so that’s pretty good food eh?!) and –0.5 for making me wait a little.

I’m fat and I love pasta. I tried several dishes here when I was recently in the City. I particularly love their spinach and ricotta ravioli sautéed with sage. The sage makes the flavor of the spinach come alive and the texture of the pasta was heavenly. I also had some aglio e oglio fettucine. I loved the texture of the pasta — talk about a heavenly feel in my mouth.
I found the service to be friendly and gracious. I will eat here when I am back in SF.
COOTZ OUT!

Not for the faint hearted… I fell in LOVE with this place.
As I knew I would… any place that serves a ravioli inside a raviola ala «the Begger’s Purse» deserves my heart! Its as divine in taste as it is in presentation. Days later after I had it I craved this meal! It is a carbaholic and cheeseaholic’s dream! The inside is the best part, the ravioli was a mix of peas, ricotta, parmasean, proscuitto, OH MY!
We also tried the tagliatelle which was awesome as well. We split the smaller portion as an appetizer which could easily suffice as a full meal for one. So that in itself is a good deal.
So this restaurant easily gets a 4 star rating alone for the Beggers Purse because it is THAT fantastic. Dont be discouraged by the $ 22 price tag, it IS worth it. Not to mention its a ton of food and you will be clutching your full belly with contentment!

OK, so let me just say at the outset that if your idea of authentic Italian food is Olive Garden, Buca di Beppo (and other chains), or some of the lesser establishments in North Beach, then the exquisitely refined Italian cuisine at Vivande Porta Via may not have the necessary mountains of glutinous pasta welded together with canned tomato sauce, gloopy melted mozzarella, and out-​of-​the-​green-​cardboard-​container parmesan, to float your gondola. BUT if you are after the REAL THING, this is the place.
I lived in Northern Italy for three years, Rome for one, and Sicily for one, so I like to think I know great Italian food when I eat it. And Vivande’s is great. More than great. It is extraordinary.
Carlo Middione is an exceptional chef and restaurateur, innovative, generous in his use of simple, fresh, honest (but when necessary, decadent) ingredients, warm, friendly, and magnificent. But when I say the food here is exquisitely refined, I want want to stress it’s not fussy, elitist, effete, or stuffy. There is nothing snooty about this place or its food. The ambiance is informal, warm, friendly. .. and if you are dining alone, forgo one of the tables and sit at the counter next to the open kitchen, and watch the guys cook. And the menu is full of Italian comfort food, made with incredible love, care, and quality. Heaven!
Every piece of pasta in this place is homemade, and it doesn’t get better than that. There are so many wonderful things on the menu, that I could sing an aria — or even an opera — in praise of it all. (Although most of my friends don’t want me to sing EVER. But that’s another story.) But simply stated, the food here is all exquisite.
My favorite way to start any meal at Vivande is the Fagioli alla Toscana — warm Tuscan style cannellini beans, tomato, pancetta, garlic and just a bit of sage. Italian comfort food supreme, and on a cold, rainy San Francisco day, absolutely what the doctor ordered.
After that I frequently fall victim to the siren call of the pasta carbonara, simple and perfect — homemade pasta, pancetta, eggs, parmesan, black pepper. The best carbonara ANYWHERE, and I am a carbonara addict who has eaten it all over the globe. Like I said, Vivande’s is simply perfect.
Another incredibly delectable pasta dish — perhaps the most fabulously decadent thing on the menu — is the Scrigno di Venere (Venus’ Jewel Box) — a «beggar’s purse «of thin rolled pasta filled with spinach tagliolini, rosemary, ham and peas — served on a bed of besciamella sauce with prosciutto and parmesan. It is mouth watering to the max, and the only thing more magical than the name of this extraordinary dish is the experience of eating it!
In addition to the superlative pasta dishes, Vivande’s ever-​changing offerings of risotti are innovative, creamy, and perfectly cooked, and their main courses are inspiring. (My favorite: the Costeletta di Maiale Dorata, a really juicy center cut pork chop with a parmesan crust, topped with Cremona mustard fruit and served with some perfectly al dente sauteed green beans.)
The deserts are no less masterful, but my personal favorite is Carlo’s heavenly lemon curd tart, about which I have dreams. It perfectly walks the line between the sweet and the sour, and is the best. (One day, they sold out of the tarts — but still had the lemon curd in the back. Carlo gave me a bowl of the creamy lemon curd on the house — I not only licked the spoon, I licked the bowl.)
So, OK, you get the picture. And everything else on the menu — at least that I have ever eaten, and/​or that any of the myriad of friends I have taken there have eaten — has been equally wonderful, innovative, and deliciously authentic. (Their house-​made fennel sausages are also not to be believed.) And all of this can be paired with a really nice glass (or bottle) of vino from their reasonably priced wine list, including some great and unusual Italian wines.
One of the other things I love about Vivande is that they are open continuously from the beginning of lunch to the end of dinner. So if you need to have a late lunch at 4:30 p.m., or an early dinner at 5 p.m., you can do either! Or you can come in for lunch, eat, drink wine, and then have dinner without ever leaving your table!
Vivande Porta Via is one of only a handful of American Italian restaurants which has been awarded the prestigious L’Insegna del Ristorante Italiano from the Italian government. .. sort of The Oscars of Italian cuisine, only awarded to the most authentic and excellent Italian restaurants outside of Italy. When you eat the food here, you will immediately know why.
Just having written this review, I am now going to go and eat there NOW. Just thinking of Vivande’s pasta has made my hungry for it!

Walk right in, sit right down, and immediately order the house-​made sausage. I have never enjoyed house made sausage like I was served last night. These fennel sausages just melted in you mouth with the perfect amount f fennel. I was blown away by them!
Our waiter was just great. He suggested the perfect Sicilian wine to accompany our meal. It was a reasonable price of $ 50 a bottle. Ok by my standards that is reasonable for a restaurant.
I just went for it and ordered the small serving of linguine bolognese and a main course of the tombo tuna sauteed in fennel, garlic, olive oil and white wine, sitting on top of perfectly cooked green beans and a saffron risotto cake. Yummy!
Naturally my fork wandered across the table to my dining companions food. He was enjoying the most perfect carbonara. It was just amazing! There was lots of love in this meal and it was going right down to my belly!
I was not fully happy with my dessert. I wanted Tiramisu but they had their version Torta Zabaglione. It tried to be my Tiramisu but wasn’t quite it. I was dying for the lady fingers soaked in rum. Not to worry I didn’t walk away hungry or with a to go bag! It all just settled in my belly very nicely!

I had one of the best homemade pastas at Vivande. I got the Scrigno di Venere (Venus’ Jewel Box), which is like a pasta bag of creamy pasta, ham, peas, prosciutto, and parmesan. Who doesn’t like homemade pasta? My mouth is watering just writing this review. Crap, I’m dripping on my keyboard. I’d better end this review.

We were planning on going to SPQR for dinner on Friday night but there was a 2 hour wait! We randomly stumbled upon Vivande on Fillmore and was pleased with the menu so sat down. Homemade pasta! Mmmm. I got the fettuchine with prawns in white sauce. The waiter recommended an excellent Chardonnay to complement. The place is very laid back and comfortable. The prices are a bit on the steep side but the food is quality.

quiet, quaint, and the mood was very subdued. we got in there late for a dinner of four, and managed to spend over $ 250 for the meal.
everything was super fresh and i believe they make all their own stuff. the plates were lighter than the usual heavy cream and absent was the over exuberant things chefs do to cover mistakes in their plates. unfortunately, as the food was great, i felt it could have been one step better as some of the plates that we had lacked any deep or infused flavors. you know, kind of like putting a great sauce on otherwise boiled chicken (that doesn’t do the food justice but it’s the closest comparison i could give it),
the dessert was by far heart stopping.

This is among the best Italian places in SF. I haven’t tasted pasta this fresh and tender since the last time that I was in Italy.
The menu is not very extensive but always has a variety (beef, veg, fish, pork, etc). The wine list is great.
The only thing that is keeping this from getting 5 stars is that the ambiance (for the price) is not ideal. It feels more like a deli than a classy restaurant –maybe they could trade in the white paper tablecloth for some nice linens for a start?
It’s pretty easy to get into and is a great location. The food is definitely what will bring you in here and keep you coming back.

The situation — Friday night, post happy hour. Two people are hungry for some Italian food. They do NOT want to go to North Beach. They ask a friend for a recommendation, since they are not near a computer, and therefore cannot Unilocal their craving. Recommendation given for an Italian place on Filmore and Pine.
Two hungry people take off in a hurry, seeking said Italian place. They find parking no problem, since person #1 has a trusty parking God who never lets her down, even in crazy neighborhoods on busy weekends. Two people, in completely unrelated incident, discover it is much easier to take baby steps downhill than uphill.
Two people walk, and walk, and walk the two blocks beyond Pine, in either direction, looking for recommendation (which is actually 3 blocks away, as person # 1 discovers later, you guessed it, on Unilocal). They decide that they will try Vivande instead because: A. It looks cute and comfortable B. They are sick of walking C. It exists in the vicinity of Fillmore and Pine.
Two hungry people are not disappointed. Wine list is good and descriptive, and the selections by the glass make both of their taste buds very happy. Casual atmosphere (complete with one half of the restaurant set up with a deli counter full of Italian goodies you can take home with you) is fitting for the fact that they did not dress to the nines in anticipation of eating at a nice restaurant. The homemade pasta is fantastic (Tagliatelle w/​Bolognese and Cannelloni Ripiene di Pollo) and the sauces and rich and flavorful, the appetizer (Peperoni al Provolone e Prosciutto) is simple yet fresh and good.
The service is fair though a little slow at times, the prices are a teeny bit high for the somewhat casual environment but the people who were hungry are happy and enjoy their meal, each others company and eavesdropping on the rambling woman sitting behind them boring her date to death with stories so unmemorable that they cannot be recapped in this review.

My friend was driving aimlessly on Divisadero while having me search his iPhone for an «italian restaurant on the corner of some street that starts with a T.» Um, that was kind of pointless. Also, iPhone = hella cool.
Anyways after like half an hour of that we decided to park and find something on Fillmore. «We’re going to the first Italian place.» It was late and I was hungry and agreed to the plan.
So Vivande is totally cute from the outside and I was kind of excited.
But our waiter kind of sucked — like at least be cute. And I wasn’t very impressed with the food. The proscuitto and cheese appetizer was fine but basic and boring. I ordered the treasure box pasta and it was ok but my friend’s pasta with prawns was better.
Overall it just wasn’t that great. It ended up costing us $ 50 each and we split an appetizer and had one glass of wine. Not worth it. Blargh.

After moving to California I started dating a woman who lived out in New York. (I’ve subsequently revised my rules on long distance relationships to even exclude anyone living as far as the East Bay, but I digress.) I was flying back to New York to meet her fam and needed an X-​mas gift stat.
Me being the plucky, foolish and creatively romantic type, who of course waited until the last g** d***ed minute to buy a gift, ended up in the Fillmore. I conspired to hit up every restaurant on the street and get gift certificates from all to create the «Taste of Fillmore» tm. Being from the Midwest we had tastes popping up like whack-​a-​moles: Taste of Madison, Taste of Milwaukee, Taste of Chicago. F*** them all… the Taste of Fillmore trumped supreme. I combined Japanese (Osaka’s), American (Johnny Rockets), Italian (Vivande), French (La Boulangerie) and who can remember what else — it was f***ing 1998.
In any case Vivande holds a special place in my heart when it comes to San Francisco dining. It’s still modestly cozy with the feeling that you’re eating in some Italian mama’s kitchen. It’s almost deli-​like how you can get fine foods to go, but then again it feels upscale. And the price is upscale compared to other Italian joints in the hood which I love — Jackson Fillmore.
Opt for the beggar’s purse, or the amazing tagliatelle that I had the other night with my friend. It’s great for a date, or just to catch up. The staff are excellent, friendly and attentive.

Thanks to all Unilocalers who reviewed this restaurant, I chose it as a first date venue. It was the first time I used Unilocal and really needed to deliver (self applied pressure — first impressions are important, you know!)
Conclusion is that hmmmmm… yeah, it was good (before, during and after ;)
The restaurant is an unassuming hole in the wall — inside is simply décor ed and cozy. Romantic setting, European like. Nice setting for a first date…
There was a wait for table (we didn’t book ahead) but it was short… but it’s reassuring that they are full on a cold Wednesday night. The wait staff was efficient, friendly and helpful in a low key way. Just the way I like it.
Only complain was that the tables can be a little close together — but why wouldn’t they be given the total space is the size of an enlarged broom closet? I think most patrons were fair and dealt with the closeness, except for this whiny woman who complained loudly… continually, and unfairly… why, why, why cause yourself extra stress? Why did she have to be so rude about it?
The food was generally good– we stayed away from the pastas and op’ed for mains and seafood for starters. The mussels were a little watery but still quite good, and my date’s starter (home made sausages) was a little weak on the flavour front.
However the entrees made up for the questionable starters — duck l’orange was the special of the day and I loved it. It didn’t taste greasy, as duck can sometimes be. My date’s chicken was divine…
Dessert — we op’ed for the wine and chocolate flight. The wine flight was a very generous pour — given at this stage we’ve shared a full bottle of wine, it was just a little too much (at least we’re both equally as drunk). The chocolates were delicious but not really one to rave over.
Despite all… I will go back. There’s loads more on the menu I need to try, especially this pasta that everyone’s raving about!

Amazing handmade pasta, and good wine selection. My dining companions asked a million questions about the menu, and the waiter good-​naturedly answered all of them, brought out a wine sample, made suggestions of wines and entrees which we then ignored, etc.
They have this «jewelbox pasta», which is a large stuffed dumpling. It was good, and I’ve never seen it elsewhere. It is just like a chinese dumpling, at 5x the price. But you know, all Italian food originated from chinese food and was copied by Marco Polo after he visited China. My dad said it – it must be true.

A nice place for fresh-​homemade pasta!
I left this place quite happy and satisfied. So, why only 3 stars? In any other city, this place would be a 5-​star establishment, but when I compare my experience here to other San Francisco restaurants, I could think of dozens that were better, while I could also think of dozens that were worse; hence, I give them an average rating.
PROS:
— A nice selection of Italian wines by the glass
— Open everyday
CONS:
— For a casual dining place, prices were high for the portion size.
ATMOSPHERE/​SEATS: 12 – 15 tables; tight. Casual Italian countryside dining room feel with an open kitchen.
Would I go back? Sure, but with over 100+ restaurants in my Unilocal Bookmark and dozens of places I gave 5 stars, I doubt I would choose to go back here before trying other interesting places.
P. S. I see 4 ‘NO’ votes for ‘Good for Kids’, however, I found this place good for kids since Vivande’s menu clearly says ‘Kids friendly’ with children’s menu available upon request.

Vivande is like a classic Sophia Loren movie where she taunts a horned-​up Marcello Mastroianni with her voluptuous, Neapolitan beauty only to tell him it’ll cost him a gazillion lira for some of her buona amore. Mamma mia!
First things first, the food is pretty amazing here. I had one of their specials tonight, the Fettuccine con Gameri e Panna, which was a most mouth-​melting pasta tossed with fresh little tiger prawns and sauteed in butter with cream, tomatoes and green onion. The combination was luxuriant to the nth degree, but at $ 19.75, it seems steep even for such perfectly made fettuccine noodles.
My friend Carlos — a Unilocaler-​to-​be — had the Pollo al Mattone — another masterpiece — as a chicken breast was flattened, marinated perfectly with rosemary, sage and garlic and seared in a balsamic reduction. It came with a tasty, sauteed Swiss chard mixed with caramelized chopped onions and a perfectly roasted tomato. Exquisite… but $ 17.50 again seems a tad high, don’t you think?
Hefty fellows as we are (…and I am a former recipient of «Husky» trousers in my trauma-​filled pre-​adolescence), we had an awesome specialty as an appetizer — the $ 8.50 Peperoni al Provolone e Prosciutto — which are crunchy, pickled and spiced-​up cherry peppers stuffed with cheese and prosciutto. There were only four, but it did come with three quickly devoured slices of garlic crostini. But wait there’s more!
Carlos had the $ 6.75 Minestra di Vendure, Italiano for vegetable soup and molto hearty and flavorful. A stripped-​down Caesar was in store for me with the $ 8.25 Insalata Capricciosa, which are spears of Romaine hearts and a couple of radicchio cups slathered with a sharp-​tasting anchovy garlic dressing.
And did I mention dessert? Well, we had to try their famous «earthquake cake», the $ 7.25 Torta Terremoto, which is a slice of flourless chocolate cake, very dense but oh so buttery. I would guess it was gone in about two minutes as our forks thrusted and parried with the artistry and dexterity of… well, two really fat guys desperate to have the last bite. Burp!
Prices aside, the place is truly more a café than a ristorante, Manhattan-​cozy with a Dean & Deluca vibe but warmer with the brick walls and slightly darkened lighting. I think it could have been darker for the money if you ask me, especially with the tables so close together. Tables, mostly for two, are on one side and the extensive bakery, kitchen and Italian goodie store on the other.
The service was solid though not overly solicitous — good or bad will depend on whether you are high maintenance, low maintenance or worse, high maintenance who thinks you are low maintenance. I would come back in a New York minute… but I will always hesitate because of the prices. Ka-ching…ka-ching…we ended up spending about $ 50 each for all we had. Not horrible… but there goes my plan to fund a third-​world economy.
FOOD — 4.5 stars… honestly one of the best Italian places in town, amazing homemade pasta… and I have the grease splatter constellation on my shirt to prove how good it is… BUT your credit card may melt from the friction… spendy, man, spendy
AMBIANCE — 4 stars… warm café with lots of Little Italy-​style panache… but they need to get rid of the 1980’s-style dining chairs
SERVICE — 4 stars… they come and go like shadows
TOTAL — 4 stars… oh how I wish I could give the a 5 on pure quality… but now I have to go panhandling for some change