Evening also marks last wine dinner as owners for Burke, Joanie Wilson

PEMBROKE …Osteria Vivo Restaurant & Bar (www.osteriavivo.com), an Italian restaurant providing an exceptional blend of spirited cooking and gracious hospitality, recently hosted “One Exceptional Evening,” a new take on their ongoing specialty wine dinners by featuring collaborating chefs Lydia Shire and Jasper White.  The event took place on January 23 at their 254 Church Street, Pembroke location.

Lydia Shire is a renowned, award-winning chef and restaurateur, known for pairing ingredients and flavors in bold new ways.  Since 2012, Shire has brought her Italian-inspired cuisine to Boston at Scampo, located in the former Charles Street Jail.

Jasper White is a chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author recognized as one of the leading authorities on New England food and its history.  White is a James Beard Foundation Award Winner for Best Chef – Northeast.

Shire and White have known each other since 1979, and worked together over the years at the Copley Plaza, the Parker House, and the Bostonian Hotel.  Shire, White, and Jimmy Burke have been friends since the mid-1980s. 

Owned and operated by celebrated restaurateurs Jimmy Burke and Joanie Wilson, Osteria Vivo features authentic Italian cuisine in an elegant atmosphere with seasonal menus that use locally sourced produce, seafood, and meat and showcase homemade pasta and handcrafted sauces.

Osteria Vivo has separated itself from other restaurants since its inception by featuring two chefs – Burke and Douglas Rodrigues, who serves as head chef at Osteria Vivo.

Burke, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, is an award-winning chef who began his culinary career in the late 1970s, working under acclaimed chef Andreas Meyer, then as chef at Harvest in Cambridge before embarking on restaurant ownership.  He is the former owner of several greater Boston-area restaurants including Allegro, The Tuscan Grille, Riva, and Orta, as well as Vivo in the lakes region of Maine.

Over the course of his 20-plus-year-career in fine dining, Chef Rodrigues has worked alongside celebrity and James Beard Award winner chef Ken Oringer at Clio and Michelin-starred chef Guy Martin at Sensing in Boston. He has also collaborated with top international chefs, producing many high-profiled food and wine events, including at the Ritz Carlton in Hong Kong and Villa Joya in Portugal.

Together, Burke and Rodrigues offer a classic Italian menu with modern influences.

The prix fixe meal of “One Exceptional Evening” featured crostini with duck pate, gorgonzola dolce with aged balsamic, whipped sun-dried pepper, herbed goat cheese with olive oil caviar, fresh ricotta with fig jam and vincotto, white anchovies with lemon butter and chives lobster and parsnip arancini bites to start the meal off, which was paired with Louis la Grenelle’s Corail Saumur Brut Rose.  Jasper’s Baked Island Creek Oysters with soft leeks, pancetta, and buttery panko crumbs were served as the antipasto course, alongside Argiolas Vermentino di Sardegna Costamolino 2021.  Local Jonah Crab Risotto with black truffles, celery root, and sherry butter was served as the primo, with Abbazia di Novacella Pinot Nero 2020.  The secondo featured Lydia’s Prime Sirloin Tagliata, with tater tots and “Tiger Greens,” along with a spot of blonde imperial osetra caviar, and paired with Il Chiosso Gattinara 2017.  Dessert was a tiramisu, made with pistachio cream, Meyer lemon, and rum-soaked lady fingers, with accompaniment of Santa Cristina Vin Santo della Valdichiana 2018.

Wine expert Chip Coen selected the wine pairings.

The evening also marked the last wine dinner hosted by owners Burke and Wilson – as they had originally planned when opening the restaurant with Rodrigues, they will sell the restaurant to him in February.

“The night truly lived up to its billing,” said Burke.  “We’re so grateful to Chefs Lydia Shire and Jasper White for joining us – I am so grateful that I’ve made these lasting friendships with my fellow chefs, whom I greatly respect and admire, and I think that true camaraderie was evident in the amazing meal we presented to our guests.

“Joanie and I couldn’t have asked for a better night to celebrate our last wine dinner as owners,” added Burke.  “Throughout our time at Osteria Vivo, we have enjoyed working with our wonderful staff – they are like family to us.  We also enjoyed meeting new friends and will miss our loyal customers.  We look forward to what the future holds for Dougie, and know the restaurant is in very good hands.”