I dined at VIVO Italian
Kitchen with two family members for lunch on a Sunday afternoon in mid-June
2019. VIVO is open daily for lunch and dinner. Diners can reserve a spot using the online Open Table
reservation system.
VIVO Italian Kitchen opened
in October 2017 in the South Whitehall space formerly occupied by Chianti
Italiano Ristorante (and prior to that, La Cucina). It is located near the
intersection of Route 309 and Route 22, close to the former West End Raquetball
Club (now transformed into Parkland Manor Senior Living). The owners of VIVO
also operate Joey G’s (in Whitehall), Corked (in Bethlehem), and previously
Taste of Italy (in Allentown).
VIVO occupies a two-story
building with dining on both floors. Guests enter the building into the bar
area, which offers a small 6-seat granite-topped tiled bar with a booth
opposite; hanging pendant lights and tiles featuring international cities
decorate the bar room. The downstairs dining room offers seating at stand-alone
tables or at tables that share a banquette on one side; windows along one side
of the room allow nearly 30 patrons to enjoy dining in natural daylight. A
larger, 60-customer upstairs dining room offers additional seating at booths
and tables as well as private event space. Back-lighting in the bar area casts
a chic blue hue, while the other two dining rooms feature attractive carpeting,
padded booths, wooden chairs, and interesting lighting.
As its name implies, VIVO
serves Italian cuisine. While we perused the menu, our server delivered seeded
bread, tomato dipping sauce, and oil. We shared the mozarella sticks as an
appetizer. For our entrees, we ordered the lasagna bolognese, seafood di mare (lobster,
mussels, shrimp, calamari, clams, scallops in a marinara sauce served atop
pappardelle), and penne al forno (chicken,
mushrooms, spinach, and ham in a pink vodka sauce, topped with ricotta and
mozzarella and served atop penne). Each main
dish comes with a choice of soup (two of us had Italian wedding soup, which was
uniquely presented in a cup lined with spinach leaves) or a side salad. For
dessert, we shared the almond layer cake (similar to an almond-flavored
tiramisu). Portions were large, and we each had leftovers to take home. VIVO
offers a full liquor license (beer, wine, cocktails), unlike many area BYOB
Italian restaurants.
We enjoyed our dinner at VIVO
Italian Kitchen. We are happy to have found an Italian restaurant that has a
chic atmosphere and interesting food (not just “red sauce Italian” like so many
other area establishments).
