The new Vivilore is the same as the old Vivilore. Mostly. That’s the message from Jollene Hastings, who purchased the exquisite Independence restaurant-art gallery-gift shop in January from Whit Ross and Cindy Foster, the siblings who founded Vivilore in 2012.
“Same name, same hours, and same retail space,” Hastings explained. “And a lot of the same menu items.” Hastings, who is originally from California and New Jersey, lives in Lee’s Summit with her two children and her husband, Mark, who owns medical service companies. She has never operated a restaurant but has worked at a couple in town, including Cafe Trio and 1924 Main.
Hastings said she first found Vivilore in 2019 at a birthday lunch in the courtyard. “I kind of fell in love with it,” she explained. “Then I saw last year the article in The Star about it being for sale, and that’s what started everything.”
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Swan Dive, the property’s event space, has been renamed The Mandarin, and Hastings hopes to use it more for weddings, anniversaries, pop-ups, and Englewood Arts District activities. Longtime restaurant favorites such as the chicken salad sandwich and crab cakes remain, but new chef Chadd Williams is introducing some weekly specials and new dishes, according to Hastings.
In addition to owning Vivilore and operating the cooking, Ross was the restaurant’s resident gardener, responsible for the verdant courtyard that many of the city’s lunch ladies adored.
Not to worry: the courtyard will reopen by Mother’s Day, as normal.
“We’ve hired new gardeners,” Hastings explained. “It will still be lovely.” Vivilore is open Wednesday through Saturday for lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and supper from 5 to 8 p.m.
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