Thousand Oaks, CA - Vivoli Cafe

Today I had a chance to visit one of the franchise branch of my beloved Vivoli Cafe that is located in Thousand Oaks, CA. We head to the restaurant early so we'll be able to return in time to catch the VP debate and Must Watch TV Thursday; since we got there before dinner time, the restaurant was pretty empty and we got seated right away.

(I did take pictures of the food that we ordered, but I did not realize that the SD card was not in the camera and I left the camera cable at home, so I won't be able to post those pictures till I get home next week, but they are coming.)

There are major differences between the original store on Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles and this franchise store in Thousand Oaks, CA; and although this restaurant is not bad, I was extremely disappointed in how different the food is from the original Vivoli Cafe. Since this is the first time we're dining here, we decided to order a few of our favorites: the calamari fritti and the gnocchi. We also ordered the Pizza margherita with mushroom and MilleFoglie di Maiale, which is pork tenderloin sliced and pounded with mozzarella, leaks, tomato in a black olive sauce.

The menu and the recipe is the same as the Sunset store, however, it is obvious that the chef makes all the difference. First of all, the free focaccia bread was cold, and that pretty much set the tone for the whole meal. I made the comment to my boyfriend saying that I have a feeling that we still need to make a trip to the Sunset restaurant, and I think at the end of the meal, my boyfriend was in agreement with me.

The calamari that I rave about did not make an appearance here tonight. The portion was smaller and the calamari was overcooked and a bit rubbery. The calamari itself was not seasoned and pretty much relied on the sauce to deliver the flavor. The pork tenderloin was cooked well, however, there were no seasoning and the entire dish was bland and boring.

My biggest disappointment was the gnocchi. If you have read my July post about Vivoli Cafe on Sunset Blvd, the gnocchi at Vivoli Cafe is my all time favorite dish; it is THE dish that I would drive 400 miles for, they are "little pillows of heaven" that melts in your mouth, or at least that was what they were suppose to be. The gnocchi at Vivoli Cafe in Thousand Oaks, CA bear no resemblance to the original dish, and I didn't have to taste it to tell that it was not the same gnocchi dish that I love. Just from looking at it, the gnocchi looked dense. I then proceeded to stick my fork into it, and it did not feel light and fluffy. I put one into my mouth and it tasted just like all the average gnocchi out there, it was the same gnocchi that my boyfriend had avoided for many many years; it was dense, chewy, and uninspiring.

The only dish that was good was the pizza. The crust was thin and crispy. The topping and sauce were flavorful and complimentary. I would prefer to have more basil on the pizza, but overall, the pizza was a delight to eat.

The upside of this place was the size of this restaurant was significantly bigger than the Sunset store, and parking was free. The service is about the same compared to an average restaurant, but it did not meet the high standard of the Sunset branch. And it definitely did not have the warm, fuzzy, friendly family restaurant feel to it.

After the meal, I have this urge to just drive down to the Vivoli Cafe on Sunset Blvd to get the bad taste out of my mouth. However, I am glad to have this experience, because now I can really appreciate how wonderful the original restaurant on Sunset is, and I can truly tell you that if you want to try Vivoli Cafe, do yourself a favor and visit the one on Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles. Sure, the restaurant is small and you have to pay for valet parking, but the food is fabulous there and the service is superb. I would not recommend anyone to the one in Thousand Oaks, but if you would like to try it out for yourself, be my guest, but don't say that I didn't warn ya! :P

4th of July L.A. trip - Vivoli Cafe

For me, a trip to Los Angeles would not be complete without a visit (or two, maybe three) to Vivoli Cafe. This hidden gem located just off the Sunset strip, right across the street from the Crunch gym has the best Italian food I have ever had, and has propelled almost to the top of my favorite restaurants list after my initial visit 2 years ago. I would drive 400 miles to L.A. just for that restaurant, that's how much I love dining there.

I have this free bread test, and my theory is if the restaurant puts in a lot of effort to make a tasty bread that they give out for free, then most likely their food will be pretty good. It doesn't always work, but in this case, my theory was dead on. Vivoli cafe actually serves fresh baked focaccia bread with a minced olive and parsley dip. It is so tasty that most of the time I would fill myself up with the free bread before my main course comes.

Since my boyfriend and I have been here a few times now, we decided to order a few staple dishes and try out a few new items. We started out with their calamari fritti and Prosciutto di Parma e Mozzarella.

The calamari was perfectly cooked! Unlike some restaurant that has a heavy breading, the calamari here has an air light crisp exterior, and the calamari itself is still tender and is perfectly seasoned. It comes with their homemade marinara sauce that is actually warm.

Our next appetizer was the prosciutto with fresh mozzarella with fresh basil on top, sitting on top of a bed of mixed green. I took a slice of prosciutto, wrapped it around the cheese and took a bite. Oh wow.... What a great way to start our lunch! The saltiness from the thin sliced prosciutto, the light, creamy fresh mozzarella cheese, and the freshness from the basil balanced each other out so well. It was so tasty, and I'm ready for my next dish now....

The pastas at this cute little establishment is definitely their strong suit. I have sampled quite a few different pasta dishes here and each and every one of them were terrific!

My absolute favorite is the gnocchi and is a must have when I come here. Vivoli Cafe really spoiled me; I always stayed away from gnocchi because my boyfriend told me they are not that great, he has had it in several restaurants and non of them was to his liking, and this is coming from a guy whose favorite vegetable is potatoes. Against "his" better judgement, I still ordered the gnocchi upon our first visit. I couldn't help it cause the table next to us ordered it and they look so so SO happy! I wanted to know why I'm seeing the deli scene in "When Harry met Sally" again, well... maybe it wasn't that good, but you get my point.

My gnocchi came, I took a bite, and my oh my, if you can taste happiness this is what it must taste like. They are like little pillows of heaven; so soft, so fluffy, so light that they almost melt in your mouth! All my worries in the world have gone away with every bite I take. Ever since that first time, I have been on the search for a restaurant that makes gnocchi like Vivoli Cafe, and so far all the ones that I had were disappointments. The only other gnocchi that I liked was from Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bistro, but it was not a potato gnocchi so I can't really compare the two together.

And to show you how much I love their gnocchi, here is my dish after I was done eating. I wiped it clean! If I was not in public, I would probably pick up the bowl and lick it, that's how good it was!

In my opinion, a successful restaurant not only needs to whip out good food, but they should also provide excellent service; and there were a few occasions where we enjoyed the food but have not returned to the restaurant because of the lack of service they provided. At Vivoli Cafe, the service definitely matched the food. All of the servers I had seems like they are Italian and are either part of the family or is friends with the owner. They are so friendly and every time they come to check up on us, it feels like they are genuinely concern if we like our food and want to make our dining experience the best they can.

I love this restaurant, but I am not so high on their food to say they do not have their down side. First of all, they are hidden away in this little plaza on Sunset, and if you don't look for it, you can easily miss it two or three times, like us. Second, you need to valet park your car. The restaurant did not set up this valet, though, somehow if you're visiting any of the stores in this tiny plaza, someone will valet park your vehicle. It doesn't really make any sense to me, but oh well..... Lastly, the restaurant itself is really small. So far we have not had a problem getting a table, but during busy nights it is possible that you are so close to your neighbors that you can grab food off their plates.

Vivoli Cafe is a friendly place that cooks up authentic Italian food that will make your taste buds jump for joy. It might not be a place for everyone, but for me, I would drive 400 miles just for another taste of their food any day, especially for the gnocchi!