Restaurants

Old World, New Look

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The moderately sized international wine list, on the other hand, was mostly resistible. Only about a dozen selections are available by the glass, and about the same number can be had by the half-bottle; among these, oddly, only one of each is an Italian red, and none is an Italian white. They're also relatively expensive: Most bottle prices are pegged at $35 and up, and a bottle of Caymus Conundrum, which we recently spotted on the Pier W wine list for $37, here goes for $54. As a result, we stuck to San Pellegrino; at $7 for a 750ml bottle, the sparkling water was a delicious bargain.

Speaking of beverages, don't miss the oversized mugs of creamy, almost latte-like cappuccino at meal's end. They put an especially nice finish on the small assortment of competently crafted desserts from local Seballos' Pastries -- a petite disk of orange-zest-studded ricotta cheesecake on one visit, an especially chocolaty tiramisu on another.

Now, one final bit of griping. During earlier visits to Vivo, we had developed a real jones for the little assortment of complimentary olives that appeared at every table. Not only did they provide the perfect nosh while we perused the menu; they also seemed to epitomize traditional Italian hospitality. So we were highly bummed to find all the tabletops oliveless when we paid a weeknight visit. Even worse was our Saturday-night discovery: Our table setup included no olives, but the unoccupied table to our left did!

There was nothing to be done, of course, but to request some olives of our own, an entreaty that our friendly server responded to without hesitation. A few minutes later -- bread in one hand, a plump little kalamata in the other, and the taste of a tangy picholine now playing leapfrog across our taste buds -- our contentment was complete. (During a later phone conversation, incidentally, Herschman vowed that the lack of olives was an unintentional oversight, not a new cost-control measure.)

So now that my mouth is no longer full, allow me to elaborate: An appreciation of wholesome, earthy fare such as Vivo's is probably innate; and, yes, even if you aren't Italian, I'm pretty certain that you'll get it.

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