A last minute invite to dinner gave me less than 24 hours to find a spot that could seat eight (6 adults with a 4- or 5-year old and 1 year old).
I was asked to find a table for eight at 7:30 on a Friday night. I was told this with less than 24 hours notice? First, WTF? Second, game on! Let's do this!
None of you will be shocked to learn that you cannot expect a North End restaurant to have availability at that hour on a summer Friday night. Some of the places that I called suggested we swing by to see if we could do a walk in. Tough with kids so we will try again another time with more notice. We then thought of a place I love near Fenway, but they put a hold of $200 freaking dollars on your credit card to make a reservation. No, just no. I would have done it, because I love the place but my chef friend said absolutely not.
I won't bore you with the machinations I had to go through in my mind and on Yelp to find something with availability that was kid friendly, with menus that covered allergies/sensitivities. Oh, and parking or valet. My brain is STILL recovering.
So after all of that, the hotel they were staying at is in Revere, not East Boston. Here is where I used my restaurant booking super powers. Turns out dinner would not be at 8:00 because, shockingly, there is TRAFFIC IN BOSTON. Who knew? My logistics-solving brain kicked in and I needed to find a place that matched the above criteria and would be seating at 9:00. Here is where we came across Vivi's Tapas Bar. They also said they would be able to seat us of we arrived early, which we did.
We parked a block or so away (a plus for eating late, there were actually open spaces right along Revere Beach Parkway) and walked over just as the last few minutes of light were in the sky. There were still streaks of light in the sky for pics to be taken.
Vivi's is a huge, open and modern space with a bit of an industrial vibe. Lights were low and the candles everywhere made the space glow. The only downside was with nothing to absorb sound, it was SO LOUD. We opted to sit outdoors. This actually worked out really well since the adults could hear each other and the kids could be kids and run around.
Starting with drinks, the sangria blanca and Rings of Saturn cocktail were both delicious. One of my friends and I wound up sharing both because she could not decide which she liked more.
Two bowls of pasta arrived on the table for the kids before I even realized they were ordered. Both kids left nothing in the bowls so that was a win. Many rounds of peek-a-boo were played and iPads used.
The menu has all the tapas bar classics. We went a bit nuts and ordered two of each of the tapas we wanted. Everyone here who is surprised, raise your hands.
I loved the zucchini fries, patatas bravas, tortilla and grilled corn salad! The tortilla comes with a salad with fantastic lemony dressing on it. We ordered hummus (didn't taste it), the sticky guava pork ribs (sweet and delicious but more bone that meat). The chicken pinxtos skewers were very good. My friend who loves anything raw (she ordered the steak and scallops tartar), took one bite of the scallops and asked me to take them away. She really did not like them. The steak tartar was OK.
Three people ordered the steak parrillada and the flat iron steak. These were other people's food so I didn't sneak a bite. I didn't want to get stabbed by a fork or lose a finger.
At this point it is after 10:00 and the five-year old was cranky, tired and acting up a bit. Here is where the location was so perfect. One of my friends took the boy for a long walk down the beach to work out some of the issues he was having. It worked! See, how good sea air is for you?
Of course once they got back, we ordered all the desserts. For me the flan was perfect. At this point I appreciated the small portion (maybe four bites). Perfect after a meal where you want one bite of something sweet to share with others. Next up I loved the churros, served with chocolate and caramel dipping sauces. Delicioso! I normally love budino, but the chocolate one they served was . . . meh. I had no desire to sneak a second bite.
One of my friends and I love rice pudding (think Proust and madeleines). This version looked gruel like. It must have been the cinnamon that turned it an odd color. It was too soupy with no body to it. I took one bite and tasted orange blossom water, of which I am not a fan.
We were there late but there was no rush for us to leave, which was nice, since so many places now have that rule of "you have 90 minutes to eat, then get out!"
A special thank you to our server (Stephanie), who was really lovely and patient with our special brand of chaos that included screaming kids, dietary allergies, cross contamination questions, and changes/additions to what we ordered. You are a saint!
I would definitely make a trip back to Vivi's, next time earlier in the evening to really enjoy some great food and a summer sunset. read more