Vivre

Greatest meal I’ve ever had in my life. You will pay out the nose, but it’s worth it. Save your money. Eat top ramen, then eat here and splurge. Me and my friend had our first bite of food and literally giggled with pure adoration for the quality of food we were experiencing. It is beyond explanation. Most of the time when we us humans eat food we just scarf it down and don’t even pay attention to what we’re ingesting. Vivre helped me realize what food could be and appreciate the devotion and care a chef gives to a plate of food.
Not only was the food phenomenal, the service was perfect too. They came and checked on us only when necessary and let us be to just enjoy each other’s company and enjoy the food. I hate when servers over check on customers and Vivre definitely does not do that. Kudos! Everyone there is super friendly and warm.
Eat here! It’s perfect!

PHENOMENAL! The most incredible ribeye steak and soups we’ve had were found here tonight. The sauce for the ribeye was made of brandy and foie gras butter that brought the party to every bite. The steak was perfectly seared and cooked to medium rare temperature. My shrimp bisque takes 2 days to make the broth and Hubby’s french onion soup takes 3! The flavors were outrageously good and a must try when you’re here. The Chef was kind enough to come out and chat with us about it. He trained in New York and Japan, super talented.
The service staff was welcoming, friendly, and attentive. We really appreciated the complimentary crab salad with chunks of delicious crab in every bite and dessert wine that enhanced our desserts. We had the Crème brûlée and Meyer lemon tart. Both were delicious.
The ribeye is a Special that we luckily had tonight and hope it can be a regular menu item. It was just that good. Even if it’s not, we want to come back asap for the soups and try other entrees. The prices are commensurate to the high quality ingredients and sophisticated flavors you get here. Enjoy Unilocalers!!!

Very impressive. Open kitchen and friendly chef. Waitstaff practically gave a 15 minute speech outlining each detail of specials as well as their personal favorites. My boss exclaimed «best ribeye of my life!»
Great location for date or upscale business dinner. Looking forward to my next meal there.

The environment and the service is great. However, the food is completely underwhelming specially for the price. We ordered a foie gras appetizer, a braised duck leg entrée, and a trout dish. The foie gras was not comparable to even average french places in Seattle. It tasted too raw. The duck and the trout dishes both lacked any taste.

Great, casual and modern place. Came here with a big party and made reservations about 1 month in advance. They called to confirm and were always very helpful on the phone with any questions we asked. The only reason I’m docking one star out of this review was because we were a little bothered by a few things.
The bottle of wine listed on their online menu (same cellar) wasn’t on the menu the night we came to dine and when asked if they had it and how much, they charged $ 5 more than the listed online price. We decided it was perhaps the bottle they served us was a year older than the one listed on their online menu? Also, they listed all their specials on the mirror wall but didn’t put the Foie Gras on the list. A few ordered the Foie Gras after our server described the specials and didn’t mention the price was $ 32 for an appetizer dish! I called to ask if this was a mistake since we didn’t catch it until after we paid the bill and they said guests can always ask for prices of any dish. We just thought it was strange that every other special was listed except for the Foie Gras. I don’t think we would have ordered the Foie Gras if we knew it was $ 32 for a small-​ish portion. None of us really had issues with a «budget» but it would just be nice to be transparent about everything. If specials are listed on mirror, list EVERYTHING. Also not all the portions were equal. One Foie Gras had a bigger slice than the other. They don’t do separate checks. For a big table, we had to figure out who ordered what and even though we kept track of what we each ordered for the most part, we just had to settle to divide the tax and the 20% automatic gratuity equally even though some ordered less items than others. I hope Vivre considers separating checks in the future!
Other than that, great place to dine. Great food. Everything tasted great. They ask if they can take your coat when you enter and they also have a very good house sommelier. All the entrees were good portions. Most had enough to box up. Great atmosphere and ambience, great staff, great food. We had a great degustation night! We had lots of fun catching up with friends over great tasting food and such friendly staff. I hope Vivre stays around for a long time.
I would come back and try other things on their menu. They happy hour also with great items on the happy hour menu.
There is paid, but limited spots, garage parking in the building if you want to try your luck and not have to deal with street parking.

This is one of those «how haven’t I heard of this before» kind of spots. You walk into a smiling chef in an open kitchen, a sommelier who takes your coats and a bartender who’ll whip you up something based on tastes.
The food is better than any French joint I’ve been to in Seattle, the happy hour menu is everyday, and the service is on point even during busy times. I went for Valentine’s Day with a date; the somm walked up with two bottles of Champagne right off the bat for celebration.
It’s an intimate and beautiful place for sure. If you can’t get laid after taking a date here, it’s you.

What and absolute surprise. I had walked by this place several times, always meaning to go in, unsure if the food was good as I hadn’t heard much about it. I dine out quite frequently and I can easily say this is one of the best meals I’ve ever had. On top of that, the staff (bartender, waiter, and kitchen staff who thanked us for coming in) was helpful, welcoming, warm, and appropriately attentive. Excellent and affordable wine selection, daily specials, cozy and comfortable atmosphere (i’m a stickler when it comes to lighting, seating, and acoustics), and THE FOOD!
My mom and I split the beet salad, salmon with lentils, the special short ribs with pomme purée, haricots verts, and crème brûlée. This applies to everything: SO flavorful, perfect balance and seasoning, correct temperature, well plated, and the pacing of the courses was spot on. It was also very reasonably priced for the exemplary quality. I honestly cannot give one negative comment. There was nothing more I could have wanted. Highly recommend this place and will be back ASAP!

Atmosphere here is very nice — love the light curtains on the windows, which makes it feel a bit more private and less like you’re fish in a fishbowl. The food is tasty — we had a squash soup, very creamy and delish. Some kind of porky appetizer (sorry, the wine started to go to my head a bit early) and some delish fish.
I’d been here before, when it was Japanese, and some of the furnishings were clearly leftover. However, I think the redo they did was great! I’m happy to come back next time I feel like Audrey Hepburn and need food/​wine to match the feeling :)

The word Vivre in French means to live through, as with love or passion, to experience. This lovely new little restaurant was Japanese in this same space, now French. (I don’t know the history of this, but both restaurants have been well reviewed.)
This is a delightful restaurant on Pine just east of 12^th, a very pleasant space, and the people are wonderfully friendly without being overbearing. I have been there three times. The duck, the shrimp bisque, the pates, the salad, are all extremely subtle, beautifully cooked and presented, as is the salmon with lentils. Portions are generous. I plan to make Vivre a regular stop. Small parties or large are treated with solicitude. Great spot!

Cute place!
Used to come here when it was a cool Japanese spot. Now it’s a pretty French spot.
Came here for a big group dinner with my friends. We were all cozied up in the big table. Open kitchen was right next to us but a ok for me since I wasn’t too crazy about smelling like a dish.
Service: good. Slow at time. They did give some of us wrong plates but we were a big group.
The bar itself is huge and on the other side but the menu seems quite small from what I remember. I had lilac blanc and a glass of wine. Also had their escargot but it was a cold dish as opposed to the hot buttered shells that I’m used too. It was a generous portion though. Quite creamy!
I also got to try the salmon: pretty plate! And the beef! Quite rich and a whole lotta meat! I came out smelling like everything I tasted and then some. Love the place: not the ventilation system. Felt a bit rush with the whole expletive but it can happen with a large group. Did I mention that I love the décor though? Do need to come back and try more food!

This is a very cozy French restaurant. We didn’t have much time to enjoy it, due to personal reasons. The service is fast, our order was served within 10 min. The onion soup was one of the best I have ever tried. So why did I take off two stars? The chicken liver pâté that was suggested as «amazing», was simply awful. It was very sour and came with marinated beets and cucumbers that were sour as well. So there was nothing to compensate its sourness. It was the worse pâté I have ever tried. One star goes off for the pâté.
The other star goes off because of the price and the sparkling water. I was served a sparkling mineral water that I didn’t order and was charged for it. I don’t drink sparkling water, it makes me sparkling for long. We ended up with a $ 65 bill before tips, basically for two medium sized soups, two glasses of sparkling wine and an uneatable pâté.

Great place! Walked in by accident and the owner welcomed me with a complimentary glass of wine. THe duck leg was fantastic and not costing an arm or leg. Definitely going back and might upscale it to 5-​star :)
update: love it.

I think this place has potential but it was an uneven experience for me. We started with the escargot and it had an herb sauce over it. The escargot was slightly cold and I prefer it with butter and garlic. We ordered the French onion soup and that was great! We also ordered the trout and that was nice and simple which I liked and my friend liked the braised duck leg. We ordered the apple tart for desert and it was too sweet for me but they gave us a free crème brûlée and that was delicious. Overall it was good but nothing stood out flavor wise where I felt like I had to be back. The service was great though and we loved our server.

Loved this french bistro in the middle of Cap Hill. Great atmosphere, easy to get a table and inexpensive bottles of wine.
We ordered the special appetizer, the Cockles (little clams). It was amazing — great sauce and bread and the clams were very flavorful and had a great texture.
For dinner, I ordered the steak frites and it was probably the best steak frites I have had. I ordered it medium rare and it was perfectly done and sliced up for me.

Came here last Wednesday with a friend. Another great find on the Hill. The service was professional, the food extremely good. French Bistro in all the good ways, with an entirely reasonable, good wine list, warming food and impressive décor.

Good food, good drinks, good service. Definitely one of my new favorite place on the hill.
I’ve been there several times. It’s great place for a couple go out for a date night or catch up with s group of friends.
Ben is very friendly and even remember our name after a couple of visit.
Glad to have another nice French place on the hill.
Highly recommended to try it out.

I don’t often give 5 star reviews. Having said that Viva Vivre.
All in all the best dining experience I ever had in Seattle. The staff and chef are attentive and meticulous then came the food.
What a meal it was my business associates and myself left wondering why this gem in Capitol Hill is not packed with long lines they certainly deserve it
We will all be back and definitely telling friends.

I’m so glad this is open!!! Shibumi will be missed but Vivre is a welcome Bistro experience in a vibrant neighborhood. The Corsican White Beam Soup was the perfect start on an early fall evening. Complimented by Michel Briday Rully, it set the pace. Paparadelle w/​Duxelles, Braised Lamb Shank or Coq Au Vin? Chicken wins! Finale… Tart Tartin
Drop the Mic.

Vivre was average.
The Bœuf a la Bourguignon was good, the meat was tender — but nothing to rave about.
The Steak Frites were extremely salty, and while my husband ordered it «rare» it was charred on the tips and raw on the inside. Considering how rare my husband prefers his steak, for him to describe it as «raw», it was friggin raw.
The Pâté de Campagn was my favourite dish we ordered.
My husband declared upon leaving that we wouldn’t go back.
So… there you go.

The French onion soup is to die for. it was amazing and I love French onion soup I eat it every time I see it on the menu. I also had the Pork belly with turnips potato and apple was delicious my date had the beet and goat chees salad with candied walnuts and the steak frits was amazing too nothing we ate was bad or we wished we had gone with our other options. Ps great baguettes too.
I loved the nice comfortable but classy décor.