It took four years for owner Robin Wheelright to find the right location for her Vivienne Kitchen & Pantry, and with some help from a grandmother spirit named Vivienne, she's settled at 4128 NE Sandy Blvd., right next to the Hollywood Theater.
No, really: Wheelright had a found framed vintage photograph of a young woman, and when she and her team were brainstorming restaurant names that evoke "grandmother" and the name "Vivienne" came up, everything clicked: The photo, the name, and the restaurant's decor.
Vivienne Kitchen & Pantry serves grab-and-go pastries and coffees and seasonally driven breakfast and lunch dishes, with daily specials (recent menu below). Wheelright is coming off a stint as a line cook at Laurelhurst Market, and she says the menu will "morph and grow over time," with dinner planned for down the road.
Many dishes on the menu are vegetable-forward, and on the pantry side of things, you'll find Extracto coffee, off-premises liquor sales, and other local products for the home.
The 30-seat restaurant has a bright, café-in-the-countryside vibe, with white walls, lots of windows for letting in the sunlight, and the requisite mason jars filled with local ingredients. Right now, its hours are Tuesday through Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. When dinner launches, it'll be open 5 to 10 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, too.
Looking for another excuse to check it out? It's holding an open house this Saturday. Check Facebook for updates.
