Vino e Vivo — Restaurant in Exeter

I found this place because I was searching for a chefs tasting table. They ended up being booked out for a year so I figured just regular reservations would suffice.

I booked the bar and was so glad I did. We got there and there was an anniversary card hand-signed with little congratulatory messages from the entire staff. So sweet.

We did a bunch of small plates. I don’t know if I remember everything but it was all fantastic. They also brought out other dishes compliments of the chef. The chef came out twice and just chatted with us. My husband asked him about sunchoke because he’d never heard of it, and he literally went back to the kitchen and came back to show us what it was. The sous chef came out too. The owner and the bartender tag-teamed serving us and everyone was just so friendly, informative, and just so pleasant to be around. Everything was plated like a work of art. We literally stared at each plate in awe because of how pretty it all looked. Every dish was fully explained when they presented it.

We started with charcuterie and it was amazing. Three meats I haven’t had before, all house made. House made pickles, jam, and crackers. A mustard that was out of this world.

For our small plates we had:

crispy octopus with a squid ink tuile and some sort of amazing potato fondue. It was the best octopus I’ve ever had. We ordered it twice.

steak tartare with quail egg and potato croquettes. So tender and such an amazing mix of flavors.

duck fat beignets. We got these twice. The first was a sugar coated beignet with Serrano (I believe) ham, goat cheese and a jam. The second was foie gras with goat cheese and grapes. The sweet and savory and salty all together was a complete shock to my system. I’d eat them daily if I could.

hay smoked carrots with cecina, black garlic and port poached pears. This was compliments of the chef and was just such an amazing surprise.

salmon crudo with grapefruit, bergamot and freshly grated horseradish. Such an interesting mix of flavors. The salmon was served raw so the grapefruit was a great tenderizer. It was so buttery and fresh.

fois gras served with sunchoke cake. Yes, cake. The cake was sweet and moist and felt dense but was really light. Absolutely amazing. I don’t know if that even makes sense but that’s how I can describe it. Best fois gras I’ve ever had.

ricotta tortellini- also compliments of the chef. The dough was so tender. The ricotta was so smooth and creamy. It was served with garlic scapes and almonds and mushrooms that were perfectly cooked.

we ended up getting a cheese plate at the end as well. All three cheeses were so different and perfect. Also served with the crackers, jam, and a different mustard.

For dessert we ordered a layered chocolate stout cake with a black sesame tahini ice cream. It reminded me of the most elevated chocolate peanut butter dessert you can imagine. They also sent us three other ice creams: roasted almond, fois gras, and mushroom. Everything was so creamy, perfectly sweet, and flavorful. Just absolutely stunning.

I’m drooling just reliving it in my mind. I cannot wait to go back.The owner informed us about the outdoor seating along the river during the summer and how on Wednesdays (I think) they do fresh oysters that are caught that morning and the person who catches them delivers and shucks them as ordered.

This was the most wonderful anniversary dinner and truly one of the top 5 dining experiences I’ve ever had, no questions asked. Such a wonderfully unexpected food gem in Exeter! Our sincerest thanks to every single staff member that made our night something we will talk about for a...

I feel weird giving a 3 to a restaurant most others consider a 5 but weirdness is the reason for my rating. This restaurant seems to have everything going for it--small, intimate, quaint, tucked away in a corner on charming Water St. in Exeter. Good selections of wine, supposedly signature Chef. But it's just weird. The weirdness starts when you enter and are seated at a table with your name painted on a place setting--but along with everyone else who has reserved the table for the evening...with times. Like I really want to see we have an hour and a half to eat and get out of there before Heather shows up and claims our seats? Then there is the food. It treads a very fine line between creative and weird and, unfortunately, it crosses over to the dark side all too often. We started with the cheese platter and charcuterie board. We combined them, which I would recommend as you only get 3 small items on each indidivually, for $17 & $18. Combined, even though it's $35, they look like you are actually getting something. Cheeses and meats were good although the side crackers (some sort of toasted pita) were sort of stale. Anyhow, we moved on to the small plates and that's where the weirdness continued. Everything read interesting (not necessarily tasty, just strange and interesting enough to try) but what we ordered just didn't work taste-wise. The shallots were soaked in balsamic vinegar, and that's all you could taste. The beignets were weird in that they were like a sugered munchkin cut in half with goat cheese inside. The combination didn't work and you ended up with sticky fingers for the rest of the evening. The octopus was pretty good and simple enough (not too "creative") to be tasty. The lobster stuffed cannaloni was also an odd combination of flavors that didn't work. Anyhow, the food was disappointing, IMHO, and, given that small plates add up very fast, very expensive. I realize that the menu rotates but if the selection we tried had such weird taste combinations I see little hope for future offerings. Wines offered were well chosen and reasonably priced but the selection was small. Given that "vino" is in the name of the place you'd expect a larger curated selection. Service was also weird. 6 tables (mostly doubles) and two servers with no place to hide yet ours kept disappearing so the service was poorly timed and slow. Two hours to get out of there and we didn't order coffee or dessert. No rush to go...

One of the finest dining experiences New Hampshire has to offer.

Ever since Chef Callahan joined the restaurant a few years ago, I’ve been eager to visit, and I finally made it happen. The cozy ambiance, paired with our window seat overlooking the open kitchen, set the perfect tone for the evening.

The menu here was French-inspired with a creative twist—not too traditional, yet not as avant-garde as some contemporary French fine dining spots. A perfect example of this balance was the Duck Fat Beignets and the Oxtail Tart Tartin. The beignets, cooked in duck fat, were rich and indulgent, with the cheese being dominant, while the umami of green tomato jam and ham added layers of depth. The tartine, with its flaky puff pastry and tender oxtail, was also satisfying. Another one of my favorites was the Crispy Octopus. Glazed with cranberry gochujang, the octopus was a masterful concoction of flavors and textures—sweet, spicy, nutty, and funky—all harmonizing beautifully with the tender octopus.

For the entrées, the Agnolotti and the Duck Breast were both exceptional. The duck breast, in particular, was one of the best duck I’ve had in my recent memory. The subtle coffee rub, the maitake, and the earthy huitlacoche bread pudding were flawless complements to the duck fat.

What made our evening extra special was the service. Chef Callahan went above and beyond, personally checking in with us and graciously offering complimentary dishes, including the Bolognese (recently removed from the menu) and an Ice Cream Flight featuring inventive flavors like stout, maple & maitake, and beet.

Overall, a one-of-a-kind restaurant that you won’t see anywhere else in NH. I’d even argue that it’s better than most of the elevated dining spots in the Greater Boston area. Though the drive took nearly three hours, it was absolutely worth it. Can’t wait to return once their patio...