The Lively — Restaurant in Boise

My husband and I attended the Lively for the first time last night. Here are our impressions: The building and its interior design are stunning! The building itself is a massive improvement for that block of downtown Boise. When you first walk into the main level it is dark, plush, and moody. However, the very next thing you’ll notice is the cacophony of what sounds like a school dining hall drifting down from the open stairwell. I almost asked the host if they were hosting a raging, private party upstairs, it was so remarkably loud. As we climbed the stairs to the 2nd floor and main dining area the aesthetic became much more open, airy, and minimalist. The din of all of the diners was very loud as it was just reverberating off of the tall, almost bare walls and ceilings. Some plush rugs, tapestries, or even rebuilding the booths to be taller so that they muffle some of the voices of the diners would go a long way in alleviating the ambient noise. It was very peculiar for a fine dining experience. It’s not the music volume (as noted in the owners response to another review) I didn’t even hear music playing until I slipped into the restroom later in the evening.

Service: The service staff were friendly, clean, and knowledgeable. Their uniforms consisted of button up white dress shirts or striped boat shirts, dark wash jeans, and they all had on the exact same shoes. Not the same style of shoe. They all literally had the EXACT same white with green accents Adidas track shoes (Life Aquatic vibes). The rate of service was a bit sluggish to start and rather inefficient. After we were seated at our table (just my husband and I), we were not approached by another member of the staff for 15-20 minutes. There was plenty of staff around our area but there didn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason as to who was doing what, so I feel like we might’ve been lost in the bustle. (We thought that maybe it was a busy night, about 75% of the tables were full when we were seated. However when we asked the young lady who brought our waters if they were having a busy night she dismissed the notion by saying, “No, it’s actually really slow this evening. Is this your first time here?”) We received our waters 25 minutes after we had been seated. Then there were 3 more interactions with various staff before our cocktail order was taken. From the time the two of us we were seated and had 1 round of cocktails and 3 starters it clocked in at just over 1 hour and 30 minutes. Which isn’t terribly long, but the long stretches at the beginning and the fact that we interacted with no less than 6 different staff members makes me feel that the dining room wasn’t being managed effectively. There didn’t seem to be much communication or cohesion amongst the team, resulting in disruptions to the flow of service. Overall, service was not as smooth as I would expect from a restaurant of this caliber.

Food and drink: The cocktails were top notch in taste and presentation and quickly procured. I highly recommend the bar service! We were looking for a light dinner and wanted to experience the range of flavors that The Lively had to offer so we ordered 3 starters for our meal. Plated well, high quality ingredients, and imaginative. However, the taste was not well balanced in 2 of the 3 starters. I had the Croques Des Bois but it’s duck, cheddar, and trimmings were overpowered by the pickled jalapeños, that was the only thing you could taste. The Local Potato bisque was thick and hearty, but the flavor was bland and unsurprising. The Snake River Pastrami Gougeres were good and had a nice layer of flavors to them. They were very rich and should definitely be shared. The food was enjoyable, and filling, but not as gratifying as we were hoping for.

Overall it was a pleasant evening, and I would recommend it for the drinks and beautiful building. But when seeking a fine dining experience in the future, I can think of a few other local restaurants that we will probably choose before returning...

My significant other and I have been eyeing this place for awhile. We walked passed the building during construction and fell in love with the style. We couldn’t wait for it to open! After COVID hit, we waited to make reservations until we felt it more safe to eat out. Finally, we made reservations for our anniversary.

The building is absolutely stunning and dinner reservations are seated on the second floor. The staircase is grand and rich. We were seated at a window and given a complimentary glass of champagne for celebrating our anniversary, which was a kind touch. The ambiance was beautiful albeit a bit loud. Though, for a name like The Lively, the decor was a bit plain. Still, it is beautiful.

Sadly, the food ended up being a disappointment. They had wagyu steak tartare as an appetizer special which sounded delicious. However, it was over salted and the amount of onion just punctuated the salt even further. Not a great way to start the meal, but we hoped it was a one off since the tartare was a special. My significant other ordered the trout niçoise and I ordered the duck roulade. However, I was told they had run out of duck. Which, I understand as we had a later reservation, but it put even more of a damper on the evening. I ended up ordering the agonolotti on the appetizer menu as the waitress mentioned it was large enough for an entree. The trout was cooked to perfection, however, the plate overall was lackluster. The fennel was not thoroughly cooked through and the olive tapenade was VERY salty and dry. We asked for olive oil to attempt to cut the saltiness, but it was overwhelming. When we asked the waitress to make a note to the chef regarding the saltiness of the tapenade, she tried educating us on how tapenade is supposed to be salty. I preface this by saying she wasn’t rude about it and I appreciate her trying to educate, however, my significant other is a chef trained in French cuisine and is from a country where olive tapenade is part of the culture - it was not meant to be THAT salty. My agonolotti was prepared well, but I found myself chasing the sultanas around the plate to break up the richness of the pasta. I recommend putting some sultanas in the filling to help balance it out. We rounded out the meal with the Basque cheesecake and Passion Fruit desserts as well as the Tipperary and Hemingway’s Daiquiri. The Passion Fruit dessert was another disappointment. The sorbet was overly tart and the pistachio polenta crumble had parts so hard, it sent shocks through my teeth. The drinks and the Basque cheesecake, however, were the highlights of the evening and were absolutely delicious!

Overall, there seemed to be issues with finding balance in the plates whether it was too salty or too tart or missing acidity. With some minor improvements, it could have...

VERDICT: A definitive stop for lingering conversations over exquisite food and drink. Time easily shifts to timelessness as the experience truly envelopes you and your company.

FOOD: If you go, plan on drinks, appetizers, dinner, sides, dessert (in whatever order pleases you). The food and drink are truly elevated, but the portions are smaller. Still, it's completely worth it and even adds to your dining experience via an ensemble of flavorsome choices progressively delivered to you. The menu does change (I'm not sure how fast), so keep that in mind if you find the items I'm reviewing aren't present. Each food was its "rendition, truly revelational in execution.

DRINKS: Classic and unique offerings. I should have been more adventurous and gone beyond my draft beer. I did sample one (I don't remember the name of), but it was a take on an appletini that had incredible apple flavor while remaining dry in sweetness yet bold in flavor.

APPS: Meatballs were excellent. At first, I was apprehensive in that there was no crust on the meatball, but after tasting it, they convinced me I might be making meatballs incorrectly. The texture was a perfect bite-- consistently cooked from surface-to-center-- blooming in flavor balanced well between meat, aromatics, and umami, while the marinara serves as acid to further open the palate.

DINNER: The cod was brined and cooked to perfection, with a moist flake and a torch-seared skin. The miso sauce bloomed harmoniously with the more gentle flavor of the cod, awakening it to a more interesting presentation. While slightly uncouth, I ordered the french fries to experience an elevated fish and chips. The lasagna was almost laughably small, but upon tasting it, we laughed no more. It was rich and elegant, impressively filling akin to Elven Lembas bread. (The portion size was a mercy for those like me who would eat the whole thing and then regret it, had it been bigger.) The roast chicken was likely a well-executed half chicken presentation, perfectly brined and classically seasoned with an expertly balanced aromatic bouquet.

DESSERT: Incredible. Having a pastry chef on staff really makes a difference. The cheesecake and chocolate cake were excellent, but the key lime brûlée could inspire a whole Hallmark Channel movie about the dessert that got away, starring Simu Li as me, pining away for it during the lonely holiday season.

SERVICE: Excellent. The wait staff were prompt, knowledgeable, and generally pleasant to interact with.

ATMOSPHERE: Low light and quiet music set the tone for intimate conversation in a comfortable booth. This is where The Lively excels: a lingering, intimate environment meant to engage in conversation at length over drinks, appetizers, dinner, and...