Dining Spring Lake Global Inspiration, Italian Foundation Review NYTimes.com

VIVERE is a happy combination: beautiful 1883 Victorian building, deep porch above the beach traffic, glassed-in dining room with a view to the ocean.

Then there’s the food: crisp, clean flavors, fresh ingredients and global inspiration, against a comfortable Italian foundation. Add to that a pleasant informality; one can rent rooms here, and some of those who do mingle freely. One couple, carrying beer and an open bag of Tostitos, plopped down on a sofa adjacent to a dining table to enjoy the view, too.

This place is as special as its name (to live, in Italian) and its executive chef, Claudette Herring, 52 — who surprised herself and delighted her Trieste-born mother 16 years ago, when she abruptly left a job as manager of a hair salon to prep and cook at the Italian restaurant next door. “It was one of those ‘Aha!’ moments,” she said.

Vivere opened on weekends in December and progressed to five days a week by last month. Go before the hordes discover it, but don’t go too early (and expect lags between courses). On our first visit, we arrived just as the restaurant began serving, only to learn that the chef hadn’t yet composed the evening’s menu. The waiter told us it would take 15 or 20 minutes, so we sat on a boardwalk bench nearby and watched the waves, then returned to the restaurant and a handwritten one-page list of three antipasti, three pastas, five fish dishes and four meats. Though house salads were available, they didn’t fit on the page.

Among the appetizers, a sautéed mix of clams, mussels and sausage (tre amici) flavored with diced tomato, basil, parsley, thyme, garlic and white wine was well balanced and clean, with the sausage of outstanding quality; on a second visit, the sausage and broccoli rabe was its equal.

Another mix, of crawfish, peas and shallots in a cream sauce on puff pastry, was smooth and elegant. The caprese salad, with slabs of mozzarella, red pepper and Jersey tomato, is required of any Italian menu, and this was a creditable version of the classic. Zuppa di clams was ruined by an excess of salt and should have never left the kitchen. Otherwise, almost every savory dish needed salt — diners at the next table asked to borrow our shaker.

Pastas were delicious, particularly the sautéed shrimp with shiitake, cremini and button mushrooms over penne and a fresh fettuccine with sautéed vegetables and a light tomato-basil sauce. Fresh tomato and mozzarella over penne was well made and satisfying.

As for main dishes, seafood entrees are all well prepared. My favorite was sesame-crusted seared tuna laid on a bed of thinly sliced yellow beets marinated in sesame oil and vinegar, then topped with a tower of seaweed salad, making a compilation of vivid color and taste and a whimsical salute to summer.

Seared scallops with onion, pancetta and dried tomato were lovely yet more subtle and conventional, especially the sherry demiglaze. A massive roast pork chop was compellingly flavored with rosemary and sage but was overcooked; the generous portion of sautéed fresh spinach in a dish alongside was a welcome addition.

Tilapia francese (a sauce with lemon, butter and white wine) was balanced and beautiful, the pure white of the fish playing nicely against the deep green of spinach on the side. The grilled sausage and shrimp with broccoli rabe was delicious as well.

For a sweet ending, pick the chocolate mousse — a cold and hearty serving in a coffee cup — or, even better, the ricotta-walnut cake, served warm with a lemon cream sauce. House-made and celebratory, it, like Vivere, is a taste to treasure.

Vivere

Grand Victorian Hotel

1505 Ocean Avenue

Spring Lake

(732) 449-5327

www.grandvictorianspringlake.com

VERY GOOD

THE SPACE About 120 seats, some with ocean views. No wheelchair access.

THE CROWD Festive and appreciative; family-friendly atmosphere.

THE BAR Bring your own.

THE BILL Lunch items, to . Pasta and dinner entrees, to . All major credit cards accepted.

WHAT WE LIKE Clams, mussels and sausage; tomatoes, mozzarella and roasted red peppers; crawfish with peas and shallots; shrimp, snow peas and wild mushrooms over pasta; vegetables and pasta in tomato-basil sauce; pasta with fresh tomato sauce and mozzarella; tuna with seaweed salad and beets; tilapia with spinach, sausage, shrimp and broccoli rabe; roasted pork chop; chocolate mousse; ricotta-walnut cake.

IF YOU GO Lunch: Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dinner: Wednesday through Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m., and Sunday, 5 to 9 p.m. Reservations are recommended on weekends. Street parking.

Reviewed Aug. 31, 2008