rev:text
| - Here's to my very first Yelp review! Here goes nothing!
So, I've been in Charlotte for a little over a year now, and with the exception of Villa Antonio, I have yet to find a decent Italian restaurant. Wanting to celebrate my girlfriends B-Day in style, I made a reservation for two at Vivace / uptown Charlotte. Not wanting to dine in a 'dead restaurant' I had specifically asked them how busy they tend to be on a weeknight. The hostess was nice enough to check their reservations and let me know that they had a few large parties and the place turned out to be pleasantly busy for a Wednesday. The atmosphere was very cool, with music, two bars (one upstairs and one downstairs), and no shortage of lounge seating to enjoy a drink with friends. One area on the upper deck had VERY nice views of the Charlotte skyline. I didn't see their drink menu so I can't comment on price, but, it seems a cool place to go even if you aren't necessarily hungry. But, hungry we were!
As soon as we sat down our waiter dropped a nice bread basket. Made in-house. We ordered two appetizers; Calamari with Spicy tomato aioli and Gnocchi with shrimp, pancetta, corn crema & arugula. The gnocchi was OUT.OF.CONTROL! On the other hand, the calamari was perfectly run of the mill, but, at only $10 bucks, it's not going to offend anyone. If I have to say one thing about the calamari; there's a LOT of it!
My main course was the pan seared pork chop which comes over grilled sausage, ciambotta, parmesan polenta, and fried capers. This pork chop was a game changer! Order it how you like, but, medium-rare was how I ordered it. At first I didn't think I'd be able to finish it, but, I persevered. My girlfriend needed help finishing her Seared Scallop Risotto with spinach, spicy capicola, & cherry pepper crema. Me being the gentleman that I am, helped her polish it off. I'll vouch for the both of us that it was NO JOKE! The portions were very generous and the presentation was great!
When making my reservation, I just mentioned that it was my girlfriends birthday and without bringing it up again, they brought out a mint chocolate ice cream, on the house. It was great! When we were done, we asked our waiter if he could take our picture on their 2nd floor terrace overlooking the city. He obliged. All-in-all, GREAT night out!
|