Yeah, I kind of thought the same of Vivo. But Petit Paris should be re-opening soon, all will be well. I hope.

Yeah, that’s the one. They’ve moved a block east, to a building they actually own now. I guess their current goal is to open on the 22nd, though they’ve been “a week away from opening” for over a month now, so hopefully this time it’s for real. Matthieu, the chef, is a friend and I really want to see their business live up to his cooking!

was that filet not far from town at cafe dodici perhaps?

their food is pretty awesome due to the fact that adin wheat is such a great chef (not to mention a really nice guy). my sister in law annie (who has since moved to california) helped start that place up.

i haven’t even tried vivo’s, i ate there right before it switched from regina’s and i was far from satisfied. for the price it makes more sense to drive 25 minutes and eat something great.

Uh-oh, someone will be getting another phone call at home from a business owner, I fear….. Since living with the fish master chef, I live in fear of overcooking all fish. And, as such, usually do.

I goto Vivo often with friends and had quite the opposite reaction to yours. I love their salmon. Maybe you just had a bad piece of filet ? Possible ?? In any case I love vivo food and was surprised to see such reactions.

Love & Peace
-LS

Vivo’s is over-rated. I’ve never had a great meal there. I go to Iowa City for “fine dining”. Need to try Dodici.

Vivo was better when it was Regina’s. Too bad Regina’s well known substance problem ran it into the ground. There is more I could say about the new ownership, but since this is the world wide web, I will refrain.

Whoo, whoo! How’s THAT for being negative???

P.S. Did you know that Fairfield has more restaurants per capita than San Franscisco?? Yes, we’ve done the math.

I agree that Vivo sucks. The staff is slow, it took 15 minutes to get drinks. The chef thinks too highly of himself and doesn’t attend to satisfy the guests requests.The food really isn’t that great.
Drive the extra miles and go somewhere worth your while!

I am from Des Moines and visit Fairfield regularily and am dumbfounded that with all the money floating around in FF their isn’t a hoity toity fine dining joint. Regina’s had good food, but was overpriced for the quality of the food IMO. I haven’t been to Petite Paris yet, I may have to give it a try when they reopen. Is that the only options for fine dining in town?

haha, define, “fine dining.” Dan, it depends on what kind of food you’re looking for. If you are interested in Ayurvedic cuisine, you might try The Raj; you’ll have a fine dining atmosphere, but it’s open only for lunch and is a buffet. I still think Mohan’s has the most sattvic food in town, despite the lack of ambiance. Petit Paris is definitely worth a try. Marie-Helene and her son are very devoted to good food.

The “money floating around FF” isn’t necessarily going to be available for starting a high end restuarant for a couple reasons, not the least of which it’d be a bad business idea - at this time. I doubt that FF can support a truly high end eatery. Remember, 2/3 of town thinks Kokomo’s is da bomb. We need more regular tourists like you who will enable FF to support truly fine dining. We’ll get there.

Back in the day, the truly fine dining experience was at Toni D’Orr’s Supper Club. For $20 (back in mid 80’s) you had an incredible meal cooked from scratch from entirely fresh, in-season ingredients in a small, cozy room in an apartment above what is now the Bargin Box. She could seat maybe 10 people. Toni was/is our Wolfgang Puck, only better, and much prettier. I’d love to see her jump into doing a new restaurant again.

I think FF’s claim to food-fame is basically it’s diversity and affordability. The best places come and go. Sometimes you just have to be here at the right time to have an unbelievable meal.

As long as the Art Walk keeps going on, I will keep on visiting Fairfield regularily.

Holly-To answer your ?, my definition of fine dining is a Vivo’s/Regina’s type place and certainly the Raj would fit that same bill. I don’t eat at these places everytime I visit, mostly I’m looking for places when I come with my girlfriend and want a romantic meal. Toni’s Supper Club sounds interesting and I would prefer a place like that.

I will back up Willi’s point on some things being higher in FF than bigger cities. My girlfriend was also surprised about the prices at Everybody’s when she first shopped there. She commented how the prices are roughly the same or higher than the natural food store we shop at in Des Moines, which is much smaller than Everybody’s and has a smaller customer base. Also, a $75 meal for 2 in DM is high, even for the higher end places around town. I’ll call it a give and a take regarding cheaper living in FF.

I know that Everybody’s prices vie with the big cities. However, I don’t mind it personally, because I know how much money Everybody’s donates to their 2 causes: arts and children’s programs. It’s a lot. 1st Fridays Art Walk wouldn’t be where its at today without Everybody’s generosity.

The way around Everybody’s prices is to participate in one of the food coops in FF. I’m too lazy - I prefer just strolling into Everybody’s.

And Will, I guess you’re right about FF being able to support fine dining. It’s going to cost us the same $75 whether the chef is phoning it in or not. We can only hope someone gets a clue. I’m glad you all have had good experiences at Dodici - everytime I’ve eaten there I’ve been severely disappointed. We just stopped going.

I think I’m going to talk to Toni about starting up the Supper Club again…..with the dissatisfaction with Vivo’s so rampant, maybe it would be profitable for her to jump in again.

Food IS art!

My family are currently “vegetarians” who eat some chicken and fish (no shell fish.) We tried various things on the menu, but they were all so unmemorable, and a while ago, I couldn’t tell you what the entrees were. Ah, well, to each his own…..

I’m so excited at the possibility of Toni starting up the Supper Club again! It sounds like a place we’d really like.

I take it everyone has tried Small Planet (hat is the name isn’t it?)? It’s been great each time I go in. The service can be REALLY slow but they have been crazy busy since they opened.

Deb Williamson, the owner of Small Planet, used to own 24 Carrots, back in the 1980’s. Great food then and glad she’s back to it now. The walnut burger is delish!

It seems like most people here are Petit Paris patrons. I love vivo food, has anyone tried their chicken scallopini (it was a special of the night) it was the best meal I ever had in Fairfield in a while. All veggies were fresh and not frozen which was huge plus for me. My opinion about Petit paris is that the food is very blend and lacks flavor. Vivo is the best around here, all of you should be focusing on what is good about fairfield and how to make it a better place. Everybody’s is not expensive at all (for the quality) if you goto organic stores in any other city you will find comparable prices. For example you can get a crappy latte for $1.50 or you could go to Cafe paradiso and get a good latte for $3.00 or so, choice is yours. Usually price and quality are not related, but most of times you have to pay more to get quality.

The guy who has made this site has nothing nice to say about anything. u should move back. This town is very peaceful and u are causing a chain reaction of hate. If u have a problem keep it to yourself. If u dont like iowa then leave.

Dear Will

I am surprised that you would react in such a unprofessional manner. As I remember I did call you on Friday and did INVITE you to come back and try the food again. Also as I remember you had said that would tone the article down so it wasn’t so harsh. I did so because I was trying to create a good experience for you at Vivo. When I read this blog of yours, I was very angry with you, but then later I realized that I shouldn’t spend my energy on someone who is so negative about things. I am surprised that you were only able to find negative things about vivo and nothing positive. By inviting you (when I called you Friday) I wanted you to give our food another try to see if you can find something good in it.

I would have also appreciated if you would have given me the feedback on food first hand, because that would have helped me fix the things you didn’t like. Rather you decided to publish it on internet in a harsh article which starts as “Vivo sucks”. This article has not produced anything positive. If you are so smart then try to change things not criticize them.

Vivo is relatively new restaurant and everybody who works at Vivo is continuously trying to improve at things they do.

Lot of people worked very hard to create Vivo and are still working hard.

If you can give us good feedback that would help us improve your experience and other people’s experience then do so.

Customer feedback is really important to me and I respect everyone who gives me honest feedback. So if you have feedback that will help us improve let me know.

Regards
-Vipul Gupta (Owner of Vivo)

What’s interesting about this comment thread is that the only one attacking anyone else are fans/owners of Vivo. “Willi” has not attacked/slandered anyone. As a member of this community I’m shocked by Leena’s comment. Is this how we treat anyone with a difference of opinion?

Everyone disagrees about food. This is nothing to be surprised over.

Vipul, you should start your own blog and let people chime in. It’d be great feedback and you have the ability to edit out any comment you think “unfair.”

I don’t know Will very well personally, but I regularly read his blog and find his impressions of Fairfield to be invaluable in understanding newcomers thoughts and opinions about Fairfield. It has been a valuable resource to myself for thinking how to market Fairfield to the valuable demographic which Will and his family represent.

I should think as a businessman, you would simply take heed of his opinion and use the information to improve your business. We want more “Wills” moving to Fairfield! He’s your ideal customer. If he had a bad experience, I’d look at my business, not attack the customer.

Have any of you tried Top of The Rock?

It’s a bit sketch to get there as you have to walk through the Red Rock bar to get to the stairs, but I think it’s pretty nice once you are up there. I’m a vegetarian so I haven’t tried any of the fish or steak, but I like the artichoke dip and I’ve had good pasta there…

This thread just proves that saying “to each their own” - I’ve been to Dodici a couple of times and I LOVE the atmosphere, but wasn’t super impressed with the food. As a veg, my options were limited, so that might have been the problem.

Yeah, if you go to Top of the Rock for lunch or early evening, it’s barely smokey downstairs. I’ve never been later at night so I don’t know how bad it gets. I wonder what’s stopping them from fixing up the stairs outside on the alley so it’s a totally separate entrance? I also heard a rumor that they price the drinks upstairs for slightly more than downstairs to discourage casual drinkers from coming up?!

Vipul said, “If you can give us good feedback that would help us improve your experience and other people’s experience then do so.”

But he has given you good feedback, even though it isn’t “positive”. Very detailed feedback actually. Overcooked fish, stale bruschetta and juiceless steak. All things that don’t sound very tasty to me.

Feeback is feedback, and in the food business, the best feedback is from people who say something other than, “Wow you food tastes great!”.

If the food was bad, then perhaps using the word “sucks” shows your ignorance “Willi”. You do not write with the intelligence you claim within. Your photagraphy is bland and lifeless and the pre-posed pictures of your child trite. Negativity seems to drive you.
David, you are wrong.
Vipul, you have a cause of action for libel against “Willi”, his commentary was not a review, and like it or not folks defamation is not protected.

The word you were searching for was Crustinis - yes that must be it because I had never once served anything premade, no, not even bread. The crustinis are made fresh every day from the same bread you eat while waiting for your food. And second of all - the ‘diced tomatoes’ you referred was a compilation of over 15 different ingredients - just because you did not enjoy the food, this is not a reason to a. consider yourself a critic and b. make false claims about the food. All of the food is made fresh.

Re: You’re disagreement with the owner of Vivo. You are certainly entitled to your opinion. However, I think you ought to exercise more care in the kind of language you use. Terms like “sucks” are the refuge of someone who either can’t express his thoughts clearly or whose thoughts themselves are not clear. Such words are not well defined in this kind of context and should be avoided. I suppose it was meant to be insulting.
Having said that, I must say that I have generally found your blog interesting and helpful. Further, the owner of Vivo has not made many friends by trying to suppress your opinion. I would therefor like to offer myself as an arbiter in this dispute. I have not eaten at Vivo but I would be happy to try the same meals that made you so unhappy and write a reasoned critque, leaving out the vulgarisms. Both you and the owner could preview my report and insert rebuttals if desired. The report would then be published in your blog. My (and my spouse’s) qualifications? Elderly, retired professionals who have traveled widely and who know their way around a dinner table and wine cellar, and with no ax to grind. Think about it.

I subscribe to this blog and am amazed at the continued activity on this thread. I had a decent meal at Vivo once (when I lived in FF) but was not offended by your differnt experience.

Like someone said earlier — food is art.

I live in a fairly large city and maybe it is a small town thing, but everyone seems pretty wound up over a post about food. On one hand people are claiming he’s not a food critic, on the other hand everyone is treating this post like he’s Phyllis C. Richman.

Who has had a bad meal served to them?

Who has told a story about terrible service or food at a restaurant?

You raised your hand didn’t you?

Laywers? People volunteering as Arbiters? It’s comical. I hope Willi keeps writing negative reviews of the local restaurants because frankly it’s the most entertaining thing on this blog (and why no one comments on his good reviews which are boring).

I’m amused by this discussion and have made reservations this evening at Vivo (never having eaten there) just to see who here is full of crap and who isn’t. So far, based on what I’ve read here, I’m betting against Vivo. Vipul seems to not be understanding some basics about the restaurant industry. But we’ll see.

Ok. I had the miso grilled salmon with a tomato basil soup and Kacie had the vegetable lasgna. We also shared an asiago dip apetizer. No drinks. The salmon was very fresh, succulent, moist, and flakey. It sure as hell could not be described as “dry” (as some have complained above) but it could have been more flavorful. I kept wanting it have some galric, onions, and/or roasted red peppers on it, but I tend to feel that way about quite a number of dishes. It certainly did not “suck” but it was not excellent either. Same for the asiago. I’d say it was just “good”. The soup could qualify as excellent though. I didn’t find anything to be overpriced either. Kacie had roughly the same reaction - good but not excellent, and fairly priced. The service was prompt, attentive, curtious, and professional at least by small town standards. Perhaps Vivo has taken some queues from this blog or from somewhere else and was able to make improvements.

I will say this though to Vipul: Sir, if you expect customers to “look for something good to say” about their $75 dinner then you’ve grossly misunderstood the business that you’re in. No one should have to “look for” anything when eating in this price range; They should simply be able to stick their fork in a random item on their plate, lift a bite into their mouth, and feel pleased without effort or concentration.

We’ll probably return to try something else when we’re too tired to drive to Dodici’s in Washington where you’ll spend the same amount of money for somewhat higher quality cuisine and substantially more ambience. Hint: CANDLES.

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