Café Vivant

B K

Such a unique and cool spot. The chicken is very different from regular chicken—super tender and nicely chewy. Everything we tried, from the food to the desserts, was really good. The vibe is cozy and relaxed, and the staff are friendly. The wine glasses, tableware, and interior details are all thoughtfully chosen—it’s clear that so much care went into every part of the space, and it looks amazing. The wine selection is absolutely amazing, the best I’ve seen in California. Would definitely come back.

David Baker

An interesting mix of upscale and casual. Café Vivant provides many intriguing juxtapositions. The restaurant is sleek casual, no tablecloths and a bar in the common dining area, but there's a pretty extensive wine menu, including a number of vintages of Screaming Eagle. The menu starts with a variety of elegantly artful canapés, but the mains features a whole roast chicken served family style, so delicious that one is compelled to pick up a drumstick and eat it with schmaltz-smothered hands. We were tight on time, so we limited ourselves to two courses. The first was a mixture of canapés and appetizers, and the staff seamlessly accommodated our mashup of courses that were intended to be separate. My scallops were expertly cooked -- a strong sear on the outside and almost the entire center gently cooked and translucent. My wife and son said their canapés of "chicken nugget," "crab cake," and "lobster cannoli" were excellent. For mains, my son and I split the whole chicken that was first served tableside, and then carved in the kitchen, before being returned to the table. The chicken comes with a nicely dressed salad, and we also added sides of Robuchon potatoes, spiced carrots, and Parker House rolls. My wife got a very tender New York strip with cute little Yorkshire puddings. My wife enjoyed a glass of champagne to start. My son really digged a couple of mocktails. We got a nice bottle of Syrah for the meal. The wine list is extensive, and has many expensive bottles. One nice feature is that a selection of less expensive bottles are collected at the beginning. Another is that they feature a number of local winemakers, with pages of bottles just from one winegrower.

Stephanie Kim

If you love great wine or care about amazing food that’s thoughtfully sourced, Café Vivant is a must! The place is so vibey and welcoming, with intricate, elegant woodwork and soft lighting. In terms of food, everything was so yummy and I highly recommend trying the Heritage Chicken Nuggets, Hollander Squab and the Whole Heritage Chicken for 2 (you can choose among different breeds they offer!). It’s fascinating to taste the difference of heritage chicken from what we normally get at the market or other restaurants. The chicken was flavorful, crispy on the outside and juicy inside. You also cannot miss their dessert! We actually went over the top and got every dessert on the menu. The cheesecake, carrot cake and chocolate mousse were to die for! Last but certainly not the least, their wine list, which has over 3000 bottles, is extraordinary - deep, thoughtful, and clearly curated by sommeliers who live and breathe wine. The selection spans rare vintage bottles, exciting California producers and everything in between. 🍷

Shelby Gutierrez

Had such an incredible dining experience with my husband, aunt, and uncle — who had been eagerly following this restaurant’s opening for months. The ambiance struck the perfect balance: elevated and intentional, yet warm and unpretentious. It was fascinating to learn about chicken in a completely different context than what we typically associate with it here in the U.S. As a former vegetarian, I’ve long been aware of how most chickens are raised — the overcrowding, the disease, the toll of mass production. But here, the chickens are sourced from a nearby farm, allowed to live double or even triple the lifespan of conventional ones, making them more active, healthier, and in turn, far more nutrient-dense and flavorful. You could truly taste the difference. The sides were creative and beautifully executed without being over the top, and the dessert and wine… don’t even get me started. Every element felt thoughtful and harmonious. A genuine 10/10 experience. Excited to come back in the future!

Andy Lee

Amazing ambience and even better food. Perfect for both casual/down to earth dinner and vibey date night. Highly recommend for serious foodies as this place is a mecca for heritage chicken and farm to table while still being unpretentious. The wine list runs 180 pages deep with impossible to find mature California cabs. The guinea hen was my favorite of the night with the duck being a close second

Felix Kim

Bay area needed Cafe Vivant. From the extensive wine list, amazing squab, roasted chicken, and the best chicken nuggets! My only tip would be to leave room for dessert as it’s an experience that’s worthy of visit on its own. Must visit and will return.

Minsoo Chi

One of the best wine lists in the Bay Area. Food is excellent as well. Truly a gem. Would be surprised if they don’t get Michelin stars soon.

Haram

Loved everything about this place — amazing food, great wine, friendly staff, and a relaxed vibe. It’s the kind of spot that just makes you happy to be there!

High end. Dishes are inventive, like heritage chicken nugget. Star of the show chicken is a true star. Atmosphere is muted and japanese-adjacent. New bid for great high end place on the peninsula. Don't miss the low abv cocktails!

Incredibly friendly service. The wine list is unmatched for any restaurant I have been to in the Bay Area. The food is fantastic (obviously heritage chicken is their specialty). I have now been four times in two months and I have two more reservations upcoming for business dinners. Don’t skip dessert, it was excellent and inventive and the dessert menu changes frequently.

Such a charming restaurant in Downtown Menlo Park. Love that somehow it feels perfect for a casual weeknight meal or an elevated date night/occasion spot. Our group shared a few dishes. We especially loved the chicken for two, guinea hen, chicken nuggets with caviar, camembert cheesecake, and fried chicken ice cream! Their wine list is hard to beat. Will definitely be back soon.

Café Vivant presents a unique concept in dining experience. This is chicken done right! Thoughtful and original menu, excellent presentation, attentive and professional service. The wine list is extraordinary. Awesome!

Modern and inviting decor with lively ambiance that allows for easy conversations. Menu was unpretentious, seasonal and simply flavorful. Accompanying the meal is a comprehensive and thoughtfully curated volume of selective wines, including California wines from the 70's and 80's and deep wines from Burgundy and Bordeaux. A truly delightful experience.

Great farm-to-table food, super fresh & high-quality ingredients, and manages to combine sophisticated flavor with nice-but-not-fussy presentation. Just opened and staff is all new and eager. Wine list is by-far the best in the Bay Area, and rivals the very best of New York and Los Angeles — which obviously leverages the connected wine shop next door (Somm Cellars).

Jeff Bonforte

Incredibly friendly service. The wine list is unmatched for any restaurant I have been to in the Bay Area. The food is fantastic (obviously heritage chicken is their specialty). I have now been four times in two months and I have two more reservations upcoming for business dinners. Don’t skip dessert, it was excellent and inventive and the dessert menu changes frequently.

Pete Jollymour

Café Vivant presents a unique concept in dining experience. This is chicken done right! Thoughtful and original menu, excellent presentation, attentive and professional service. The wine list is extraordinary. Awesome!

Nicholas Leppla

Amazing culinary experience. som was amazing and so was our service from Eric. Highly recommend. Chicken was incredible. Chicken nuggets with caviar are can’t miss. Carrot cake was so good.

Bran Lee

I had such a great experience! Eric was really friendly and took the time to explain everything about the food, especially the heritage chicken it was so good. The service was excellent and the food was amazing. Definitely one of the best dining experiences I’ve had in a while in Menlo Park.

Carissa Rosenthal

Such a charming restaurant in Downtown Menlo Park. Love that somehow it feels perfect for a casual weeknight meal or an elevated date night/occasion spot. Our group shared a few dishes. We especially loved the chicken for two, guinea hen, chicken nuggets with caviar, camembert cheesecake, and fried chicken ice cream! Their wine list is hard to beat. Will definitely be back soon.

Jeff Huber

Great farm-to-table food, super fresh & high-quality ingredients, and manages to combine sophisticated flavor with nice-but-not-fussy presentation. Just opened and staff is all new and eager. Wine list is by-far the best in the Bay Area, and rivals the very best of New York and Los Angeles — which obviously leverages the connected wine shop next door (Somm Cellars).

Kaitlyn Liao

Modern and inviting decor with lively ambiance that allows for easy conversations. Menu was unpretentious, seasonal and simply flavorful. Accompanying the meal is a comprehensive and thoughtfully curated volume of selective wines, including California wines from the 70's and 80's and deep wines from Burgundy and Bordeaux. A truly delightful experience.

Delicious food with great presentation. Space has limited seating. I recommend that you make reservations, especially if larger than a party of 2. We had a reservation for 3: 2 adults and a toddler sitting in a high chair. The service elevated our experience. We were welcomed with a complimentary single bite-size crab cake. We split it amongst us and enjoyed it very much, but I recommend if complimentary bite size goodies are offered that it would be one per person. Our daughter had chicken nugget topped with crème fraiche and keluga caviar and a side of fries. Fries were cooked perfectly but may have been a little over-spiced for our liking. Chef went heavy on the chili powder. For our mains we got the Delaware chicken for 2. It was perfectly cooked however lacked some flavor. It did come with a sauce on the side which enhanced the flavor. We also got a seafood dish which consisted of a fillet of fish, 2 scallops, a prawn,a 2 mussels, and some of the most delicious cherry tomatoes we’ve ever had. The basil in that dish was apparent yet not overpowering. Perfect balance of oceany-earthy flavors. I personally liked this dish more than the chicken. The dessert we waited more than 15 mins for but it means we it was all freshly made (I hope). We got the Yule log which was a Japanese sponge cake with some bourbon ice cream. We are not alcohol drinkers and the taste of the bourbon was apparent so this was likely our least favorite item that we have ordered. The sticky toffee pudding was a hit and highly recommend ordering it.

Cool place with an amazing wine list. Like seriously amazing. Food is inventive and tasty, portions aren't huge but appropriate. Loved the scallops with amazing depth of flavor. Crab cannolli appetizer was nice but perhaps a touch too much cannolli, or maybe the filling wasn't moist enough - it came across as a touch too high in the cannolli to filling ratio. Bouillabaisse was very nice and the flavors came out, but I would have enjoyed just a touch more intensity in flavor. The fish in the bouillabaisse was cooked to perfection. Got a bit of uncleaned mussel (probably shell) when eating it, in glad I didn't crack a tooth as I bit down. But overall it's very nice and the wine list is great. Like seriously good. I will definitely come back. Pro tip, avoid sitting by the door in the winter. The cold air that comes every time someone comes and goes is rough. My company had to have dinner with their winter jacket on.

Alyaa Taleb

Delicious food with great presentation. Space has limited seating. I recommend that you make reservations, especially if larger than a party of 2. We had a reservation for 3: 2 adults and a toddler sitting in a high chair. The service elevated our experience. We were welcomed with a complimentary single bite-size crab cake. We split it amongst us and enjoyed it very much, but I recommend if complimentary bite size goodies are offered that it would be one per person. Our daughter had chicken nugget topped with crème fraiche and keluga caviar and a side of fries. Fries were cooked perfectly but may have been a little over-spiced for our liking. Chef went heavy on the chili powder. For our mains we got the Delaware chicken for 2. It was perfectly cooked however lacked some flavor. It did come with a sauce on the side which enhanced the flavor. We also got a seafood dish which consisted of a fillet of fish, 2 scallops, a prawn,a 2 mussels, and some of the most delicious cherry tomatoes we’ve ever had. The basil in that dish was apparent yet not overpowering. Perfect balance of oceany-earthy flavors. I personally liked this dish more than the chicken. The dessert we waited more than 15 mins for but it means we it was all freshly made (I hope). We got the Yule log which was a Japanese sponge cake with some bourbon ice cream. We are not alcohol drinkers and the taste of the bourbon was apparent so this was likely our least favorite item that we have ordered. The sticky toffee pudding was a hit and highly recommend ordering it.

Par Botes

Cool place with an amazing wine list. Like seriously amazing. Food is inventive and tasty, portions aren't huge but appropriate. Loved the scallops with amazing depth of flavor. Crab cannolli appetizer was nice but perhaps a touch too much cannolli, or maybe the filling wasn't moist enough - it came across as a touch too high in the cannolli to filling ratio. Bouillabaisse was very nice and the flavors came out, but I would have enjoyed just a touch more intensity in flavor. The fish in the bouillabaisse was cooked to perfection. Got a bit of uncleaned mussel (probably shell) when eating it, in glad I didn't crack a tooth as I bit down. But overall it's very nice and the wine list is great. Like seriously good. I will definitely come back. Pro tip, avoid sitting by the door in the winter. The cold air that comes every time someone comes and goes is rough. My company had to have dinner with their winter jacket on.

Fantastic wine ! I’ve been following this restaurant’s opening for a while and was very excited to try it. The wines were great, staff was patient in helping me pick and had some delicious burgundies and Santa Cruz wines. Staff was lovely as well.. Kevin, Linda, maitre’d were all personable and pleasant. Food was a let down though. Maybe just what I ordered. After much back & forth on the guinea hen, I ordered the duck. A dry aged, well roasted duck breast is something I order if it’s on the menu and thought it’d be a good place to benchmark food here. Gosh, I’ve had better ones in a railway station in France. The comfit was salty but the breast was stringy like it’s been sitting out for ages. No juice or flavor to it.

I have heard that the owners have aspirations of being a 1 star restaurant, and that food is designed to go with more refined and elegant, rather than bold, wines. What I liked: * A respectable wine by the glass list. It's different from what I've seen elsewhere. The mark-up on the wines seems reasonable, but they are expensive wines. * The veggies and mushrooms that accompanied the chicken were tasty, I enjoyed them. *The dessert menu is unique, with five fresh interpretations to choose from. The deserts (I had the baked Alaska, the other three the chocolate mouse) themselves were visually appealing, bordering on being works of art. * The dinner was served at a comfortable pace. We got there at 6:30 and left after 10:00. We had not spent that much time in a restaurant in a long time. What I didn't like: *The chicken is over hyped. In the end chicken is chicken, I didn't find the taste and texture particularly different from what I have had elsewhere. The presentation was interesting with chicken feet included, again that's different. The chicken itself was over brined for my taste - in fact it was the loudest flavor of the night (more below.) * Desserts were bland to my taste. I had baked Alaska, I could not tell there was chicken ice cream. The other folks at my table all said that there was not much chocolate taste in the chocolate mouse. * Loud. Most new restaurants these days are full of hard surfaces, long gone are the padded walls of restaurants. So I guess I just need to eat outdoors more so I can hear the conversation better. I would definitely go back for a drink of fine wine at a fair price, and then head to another restaurant for flavorful food.

eiman anvari

Food was basic and extremely overpriced. Chicken tasted just as good as a store bought rotisserie. Music was loud and did match ambivalence of the setting.

Bob Dahlberg

I have heard that the owners have aspirations of being a 1 star restaurant, and that food is designed to go with more refined and elegant, rather than bold, wines. What I liked: * A respectable wine by the glass list. It's different from what I've seen elsewhere. The mark-up on the wines seems reasonable, but they are expensive wines. * The veggies and mushrooms that accompanied the chicken were tasty, I enjoyed them. *The dessert menu is unique, with five fresh interpretations to choose from. The deserts (I had the baked Alaska, the other three the chocolate mouse) themselves were visually appealing, bordering on being works of art. * The dinner was served at a comfortable pace. We got there at 6:30 and left after 10:00. We had not spent that much time in a restaurant in a long time. What I didn't like: *The chicken is over hyped. In the end chicken is chicken, I didn't find the taste and texture particularly different from what I have had elsewhere. The presentation was interesting with chicken feet included, again that's different. The chicken itself was over brined for my taste - in fact it was the loudest flavor of the night (more below.) * Desserts were bland to my taste. I had baked Alaska, I could not tell there was chicken ice cream. The other folks at my table all said that there was not much chocolate taste in the chocolate mouse. * Loud. Most new restaurants these days are full of hard surfaces, long gone are the padded walls of restaurants. So I guess I just need to eat outdoors more so I can hear the conversation better. I would definitely go back for a drink of fine wine at a fair price, and then head to another restaurant for flavorful food.

Krishnaja Gutta

Fantastic wine ! I’ve been following this restaurant’s opening for a while and was very excited to try it. The wines were great, staff was patient in helping me pick and had some delicious burgundies and Santa Cruz wines. Staff was lovely as well.. Kevin, Linda, maitre’d were all personable and pleasant. Food was a let down though. Maybe just what I ordered. After much back & forth on the guinea hen, I ordered the duck. A dry aged, well roasted duck breast is something I order if it’s on the menu and thought it’d be a good place to benchmark food here. Gosh, I’ve had better ones in a railway station in France. The comfit was salty but the breast was stringy like it’s been sitting out for ages. No juice or flavor to it.