Viva Cafe 39, Hsueh Fu Rd. (opposite Chunghsing University main entrance) (04) 2285-3708 Hours: 10 am-11 pm www.vivacafe.com.tw

Touring the European Continent with Viva Cafe

By Douglas Habecker

Most restaurants focus their food on a particular nation or geographic region. Many hotels do the same thing on for limited periods with food festivals featuring special dishes and guest chefs. However, it is almost unheard of for a restaurant to focus on different countries, using food festivals to jump back and forth between regions.        That is exactly what one exceptional establishment does. Thanks to epicure owner Mr. Lin Yu-hsing, Viva Cafe takes diners on a virtual, year-round culinary tour of Europe, flitting between Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy and Spain. According to Lin, this results from the fact that he simply loves eating and making good food. This is illustrated by the fact that he recently was the sole Taichung customer for top-end Russian Beluga Caviar (NT$4,500 per 1-ounce jar), buying two of only 14 jars imported into Taiwan.

      The restaurant divides the year into four three-month food festivals, covering Austrian, German/Swiss, French/Italian, and Spanish food. Each of these has several featured set-menu meals ranging from about NT$480 to NT$680. Complementing this is a range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages from the featured country, plus special live performances. Recent examples range from Flamenco dancing to an award-winning Austrian/Chinese pianist. (See "What's Cooking" for upcoming May events, which include a belly dancer performance.)

Viva's current focus is Lin's favorite--Austrian food--and continues to the end of May before giving way to a French/Italian promotion. Main courses are Coffee Goulash, Prime Ribeye Steak with golden onion sauce, and Roasted Spring Chicken Vienna Style. This comes with Vienna Fried Mushrooms appetizer, Potato Soup, Tomato Salad, Peach Pudding Cream dessert, and a choice from several coffees (made with Lavazza Super Oro beans), teas and alcoholic drinks. Other drinks include an exceptionally tasty, warm Austrian Gluhwein (NT$99 for a carafe), German Warsteiner beer, Zweigelt Eiswein (ice wine) (NT$1,500/bottle), and other Austrian white and sparking wines.

      It is nice that the menu always keeps some dishes from past promotions, such as savory Spanish Paella Marinera (seafood) or the Filetes con Queso (beef fillet with blue cheese sauce). Patrons can enjoy a broad range of reasonably-priced meals, desserts and drinks in Viva's pleasant two-floor interior, served by uniformed waiters. If that's not enough, Lin plans to add a European breakfast from June.

       Clearly, the next time your taste buds have the urge to do some traveling across the Continent, it's best to book your journey with Viva Cafe.