vivere (chef Babak) — Restaurant in Stafford

TLDR: Oh my god this place is insanely good. You really need to try it. The fusilli al puttanesca along with a mariola are two fantastic dishes that aren’t too spicy (sensitive to spice) but pack a seriously flavourful bang for your buck. Save room for desert.

Our visit was a last-minute “lets do it!” and fate couldn’t have been kinder. The décor conveys a classy, elegant, family-run restaurant with an emphasis on quality. The staff were extremely attentive, polite and welcoming with a smile.

We started with a fairly light starter – bruschetta along with some in-house made bread with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar (beautiful decanters and plates). I am very picky about my food and had never been brave enough to try bruschetta before. This time it looked so good I decided to explore, and I was not disappointed. The flavours were quite impressive – a fantastic combination of sweet, salty and spicy with a crunchy and powerful base. The bread with the oil and vinegar was warm, crispy and still a bit moist. A beautiful accompaniment. The starters gave an indication of how good the food was going to be but I hadn’t expected what was to come.

For our mains we ordered fusilli al puttanesca along with a mariola, myself having the fusilli. The first bite (quite literally) of the fusilli al puttanesca is quite difficult to describe. I was instantly in shock. I have worked in kitchens for 7 years. I have spent and dined for 2 weeks on the Amalfi coast. I am a lover of Italian food. This dish truly shocked me as to how good it was. The flavours were explosive, rich and full, all the while the textures caused a celebration in my mouth. The fusilli was Perfect. The sausage was Perfect. Sitting typing this out, I long for that first bite again. How can something, described so basically as “Napoli red sauce, with salsiccia Italian sausage, chilli and parmesan.” Rock my tasting world so much, be so rich and flavourful and be cooked so perfectly so as to get a solid feeling and understand the meaning of “al dente”. The Mariola left my partner speechless. The bacon, pasta and sauce was all cooked beautifully giving a powerful flavour combination that was difficult to resist – even when we felt like we were going to pop! We somehow managed to polish off these mains along with a cheesy garlic bread (with actual slices of garlic!!!!! Yes!!!!) that was the perfect accompaniment.

After a wile debating and trying to figure out if we had room – we decided to go all in and try a desert too. We opted for a Raspberry Pavlova and a Salted Caramel Cheesecake. I’d love to tell you how the Raspberry Pavlova tasted and looked, sadly I only managed to catch a mere glimpse of it before it disappeared at light speed. It seems it was irresistible to my partner. What I didn’t know is that for the entire 10 minute car ride home he wouldn’t stop talking about how good it was and if he wasn’t going to pop, he could easily have gone for another. My salted caramel cheesecake was delectable, smooth and, believe it or not, salty! It’s so difficult to find something today that is advertised as salted caramel that is actually salted! The portion size was perfect – enough to enjoy but small enough to not be a chore to finish, while also being presented impeccably.

Overall, this may be my new favourite place in Stafford. A truly hidden gem, sitting right under our noses when we all walk by. Only those who are brave or curious enough to enter will understand what culinary delights hide behind those doors with subtle banners of green, white read. I’m due to leave for another adventure soon. When I am back, I know where I am going to go for my food. Ciao and I will...

We booked a table for Sunday dinner. We ordered drinks consisting of Rose wine spritzer, a Moretti beer, two J20 Apple and Mango and a Roma non alcoholic cocktail. We shared garlic bread for the starter. It was okay, no complaints really!

For main we had Lasagne Al Forno, a Frutti Di Mare pizza with anchovies, a Picone pizza with chicken and pineapple, a bowl of fries and a Carbonara.

The restaurant wasn't busy, so the food came quite quickly. The Lasagne looked overdone. The pizza base, is a little thin for me, but it was okay. The fries weren't great. The cooking oil was evidently old and some of the fries looked as if they had been refried.

We ordered a second round of drinks a J20, a Roma and a Moretti beer. They brought the J20 and the Roma, but no beer. We waited and the waitress wasn't anywhere to be seen. I saw one of them and my husband asked for the beer that hadn't arrived.

Just before I popped to the toilet we asked for the bill. When I got back to the table they overcharged us for the beer my husband didn't have. He only ever drinks two beers. I immediately stated he had two beers not three.

The waitress came back and stated she thought he had three beers and implies that he was lying to her, I stated he had two, we ordered one and it didn't arrive. She had reduced the bill by £3.00, however continued to say she checked the bottle bin and therefore he had three beers! I found this comment astonishing. Clearly accusing us of lying over a bottle of beer where they have made a mistake. My husband got quite angry with the waitress about this. He's not the sort of person to act dishonestly.

The mistake is clearly down to the staff: they added the beer to the bill, but didn't bring it to the table. The restaurant had one table before we arrived and one other table after we left. Less time talking to each other in the corner and paying attention to the restaurant floor would help alleviate this situation.

Well our bill was over £125, why on earth would we be debating over a £3.00 bottle of beer, when the pizzas cost £14.00+. If we were going to dishonestly dispute anything clearly it would be a higher priced item.

I would like the owner of Vivere to check the CCTV in the restaurant. There are two cameras that can see our table. Due to this false accusation no tip was left (we usually tip 10% and round up to the nearest pound), we won't eat here again and the restaurant gets a mediocre review.

I understand that mistakes do happen but there are much better ways to manage this sort of situation than to imply that a customer is lying. My usually quiet and polite husband was absolutely furious about it and his anger was evident to others in...

We had a really lovely anniversary meal here on the evening of Friday 28/04/23. We had pre-booked a table and I'm glad because it was busy but there were still empty tables so if you haven't, don't worry too much. We were sat in a secluded spot by the window in the bar area, which was lovely. The servers were all so nice and greeted you with a smile. We had 3 courses. I had the bolognaise stuffed pepper and my partner ordered a garlic pizza bread as a starter, both were full of flavour and the meat in my dish was melt in the mouth delicious! For mains, I had a pizza and my partner had a carbonara, again both really good. For desert, we couldn't decide so we ordered all 3 of the options we wanted and had the chefs special tiramisu, which I am not exaggerating when I say it was the best I've ever tasted in my life and I will be going back for more so I hope it doesn't dissappear as a special, then we also got the lemon meringue cheesecake and the salted caramel cheesecake, both seriously delicious! My partner did also get a cocktail, which he really enjoyed. We did try to order the Limoncello one but they had ran out of it, which for an Italian I was shocked by, so he just had a 2nd of the one he'd been drinking. Overall, a lovely meal. Great for a date night or special occasion and would...