ENCINITAS — The premise of Pastaria Vivi is simple, in the way that things designed by people who have spent a long time in fine kitchens often are. You walk in. You order pasta. The pasta is fresh, made that morning. The sauce is one of dozens. You eat.
The shop, which opened April 11 at 119 North El Camino Real, Suite G, in the Encinitas Village Shopping Center, is the work of chefs Brandon Jennings and William Treff, both veterans of Michelin-starred kitchens. They have built what amounts to four businesses inside a single 1,740-square-foot space: an Italian and California specialty retail shop, a daily handmade pasta and sauce counter, casual à la carte dining, and a monthly pasta subscription box.
The Menu
The pasta-and-sauce list rotates and runs to more than 75 combinations. Burrata is made in-house. So is the focaccia. The wine list is curated rather than encyclopedic. The space hosts hands-on pasta-making classes for customers willing to roll their own dough.
Hours are tight: Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. The early closing reflects the labor-intensive nature of fresh pasta production — the kitchen does most of its work in the morning, and what does not sell does not last.
The Encinitas Restaurant Pipeline
Pastaria Vivi joins a remarkably full restaurant pipeline for Encinitas this spring. Isola Pizza Bar — the Neapolitan operation with locations in Little Italy and La Jolla — is set to open at 569 South Coast Highway 101, in the former Death By Tequila space, on April 30. Coffee Dose opened in March on Rancho Santa Fe Road. Blank Slate, a private dining and event space from chefs Aron and Pam Schwartz, has opened at 101 North Coast Highway 101 in the old ChiKo location.
Whether the market can sustain all of these openings is a question that will answer itself over the next 18 months. For now, the demand for chef-driven food in Encinitas appears, at least to those investing in it, sufficient.
Sources: Pastaria Vivi opening announcement; Eater San Diego; The Coast News.