Located on San Francisco's bustling Fillmore Street, Vivande is the Italian neighborhood restaurant of choice for a lot of discriminating people.
Founded by Carlo Middione in 1981, Vivande was originally modelled after the Italian gastronomia, (see Peck's in Milan); or a large open kitchen to prepare fresh foods for people to take home to eat as they used to do in the days before restaurants were born.
While the original kitchen remains wide open, the rest of Vivande's space has gradually been given over to restaurant activity in response to customer demand. Vivande "regulars" are now in the third and fourth generation.
The ancient word 'Vivande' literally means prepared food. It was seldom used in the Italian language since the 14th century before Carlo Middione chose it to name his food business. Authentic Italian dishes are made fresh from scratch by hand on premises in an artisanal production. Vivande's signature recipes of fresh, housemade pasta continually rank among the best to be found in San Francisco.
Middione and Vivande are committed to the Italian culinary criteria of unmasked simplicity that makes trendiness obsolete; and to quality without pretension.
As Florence Fabricant said of Vivande during its beginning years, "Eating at Vivande is rather like having a meal in the fantasy kitchen of a three star restaurant. And it bears an uncanny resemblance to what goes on in the old country". Diner's Signature Magazine.
Vivande Porta Via 