Vivilore

Vivilore is an independently owned American restaurant, art gallery, and three-floor antiques-and-home-decor shop housed in a historic brick building in the Englewood Arts District of Independence, Missouri. Founded in 2012 by Independence-native siblings Whit Ross and Cindy Foster, it built a regional reputation for elegant scratch-made lunches, courtyard dining, and its restaurant-meets-marketplace concept. It passed to new owner Jollene Hastings in January 2024.

Description

Vivilore is a hybrid American restaurant, art gallery, and retail destination occupying a historic brick building in the Englewood Arts District of Independence, Missouri. The name derives from Latin — viva (“life”) and lore (“story”) — for “life story.” The concept pairs sit-down elegant dining with three floors of retail space above the restaurant, stocked with locally sourced art, antiques, home decor, garden statuary, and vintage estate-sale pieces alongside contemporary goods.

The kitchen serves modern American fare across lunch and dinner — described in coverage and on the menu as scratch-made, with signature items including the chicken salad sandwich, crab cakes, ribeye, and Wild Pacific salmon. The restaurant is particularly known for its seasonal courtyard garden (open Mother’s Day weekend through Halloween, first-come/first-served) and a loyal women’s-luncheon clientele. Current hours are Wednesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–3 p.m. (lunch) and 5–9 p.m. (dinner), closed Sunday–Tuesday.

An adjacent event space, The Mandarin at Vivilore (renamed in 2024 from “Swan Dive”), hosts weddings, anniversaries, and cultural programming for up to roughly 80 guests.

Ownership and history

Vivilore was founded by Whit Ross and Cindy Foster, a brother-and-sister team who grew up in Independence. Neither came from a restaurant background — Ross had worked in catering, and Foster had been a pilot for 23 years. They purchased the historic brick building in 2010, expecting roughly six months of renovation; because of the building’s historic status the work took two full years, and Vivilore opened in August 2012.¹²

The building has its own local heritage: it formerly housed the Sermon-Anderson interior-design/antique business, which is reported to have provided window treatments for Harry Truman’s Independence home before it closed.²

In January 2024, after nearly twelve years of sibling ownership, the restaurant was sold to Jollene Hastings, who relocated from California/New Jersey and lives in Lee’s Summit with her husband Mark and two children. Hastings first encountered Vivilore at a 2019 birthday celebration and pursued the purchase after reading about the sale listing in a Kansas City Star article. Under her ownership the restaurant name, hours, and retail components were retained and signature dishes kept; she renamed the event space to The Mandarin, expanded its cultural and wedding focus, retained chef Chadd Williams (who added weekly specials), and rehired gardeners for the courtyard.³

Links

• Website: https://www.vivilore.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vivilore/
• Phone: (816) 836-2222

See also

• independence-mo
• Registry

Menu

Last verified: 2026-06-21 · Source: AllMenus (Vivilore listing); Vivilore official site (vivilore.com/menu); Yelp · URL(s): https://www.allmenus.com/mo/independence/733014-vivilore/menu/; https://www.vivilore.com/menu; https://www.yelp.com/biz/vivilore-independence · Confidence: High on dish names/descriptions and lunch-vs-dinner structure (full itemized listing with prices on AllMenus, corroborated by official-site and press item names); Medium on exact prices (single-aggregator pricing, subject to periodic kitchen updates and weekly specials).

Vivilore serves scratch-made modern American fare split across a lunch service (sandwiches, salads, lighter entrées) and a dinner service (steaks, chops, seafood mains), with a small dessert list — the chicken salad sandwich and crab cakes remain the long-running signatures carried through the 2024 ownership change.⁴³

Signature dishes

• Vivilore Chicken Salad — roasted boneless chicken, pineapple, cranberries, pecans, apples, ginger-basil mayo on grilled wheatberry bread; the house cult-following item. ($14, lunch)⁴
• New England Crab Cakes — lightly breaded and fried with house (“Orville”/vivilore) aioli. ($16)⁴
• 22 oz. French Cut Ribeye — sweet bourbon glaze. ($40, dinner)⁴
• Pacific Coast Wild Salmon — apricot balsamic glaze, long-grain wild rice. ($28)⁴

Lunch — sandwiches (with potato salad, coleslaw, salad of the day, or housemade chips)

• Pastrami Reuben — red cabbage slaw, pickled red onions, fontina, Russian dressing, marble rye. ($16)⁴
• Lobster Roll — fresh Maine lobster, mayo aioli, tarragon, green onions, lemon, grilled New England roll. ($20)⁴
• Flank Steak — open-faced on King Hawaiian roll, jalapeño-cilantro slaw, sweet bourbon glaze. ($18)⁴
• Parmesan Chicken Sandwich — parmigiano-reggiano-crusted chicken, lettuce, tomato, red onion, pesto mayo, grilled onion bun. ($16)⁴
• Catfish Po Boy — crispy fried catfish, housemade slaw, red onion, spicy Cajun mayo, grilled hoagie. ($16)⁴
• Vivilore BLT — bacon, lettuce, avocado, tomato, aioli, wheatberry bread. ($14)⁴

Lunch — salads & entrées

• Chicken Peanut Chop Salad — grilled chicken, greens, cabbage, carrots, mandarins, peanuts, fried wonton, Asian sesame dressing. ($18)⁴
• Grilled Steak Salad — mixed greens, grilled vegetables, dried cranberries, candied walnuts, blue cheese, balsamic. ($20)⁴
• Grilled Beef Tenderloin — Tennessee Whiskey sauce, seasoned fries. ($34)⁴
• Fish and Avocado Tostadas — salmon, orange roughy, Spanish rice, salsa, goat cheese. ($24)⁴

Dinner — mains

• 12 oz. Grilled Bone-in Pork Chop — ancho-chile bourbon sauce. ($30)⁴
• 8 oz. Beef Tenderloin — Tennessee whiskey glaze. ($34)⁴
• New Zealand Rack of Lamb — honey-mint jelly. ($36)⁴
• Lemon and Herb Broiled Orange Roughy — long-grain wild rice. ($28)⁴
• Vivilore Housemade Burger — applewood bacon, grilled onions, Darby blue cheese, vivilore pickles. ($18)⁴
• Vegetable Tamales — two house-made tamales, grilled vegetables, pepper jack, avocado, Spanish rice, tomatillo sauce. ($22)⁴

Starters & desserts

• Wild Mushroom Cheesecake — toast points, crackers, bleu cheese, honey, walnuts, fruit. ($18)⁴
• Smoked Salmon Bruschetta — pickled onions, capers, goat cheese, herbed cream cheese. ($18)⁴
• Coconut Shrimp — apricot horseradish cocktail sauce. ($14)⁴
• Crème Brûlée with fresh berries; Flourless Chocolate Torte with ice cream; Bread Pudding with hard sauce and ice cream. ($8 each)⁴

Menu rotates with weekly chef specials (chef Chadd Williams); prices and availability subject to change.³

Sources

• Status verified active 2026-06-23 via Yelp — Vivilore (Updated May 2026) (accessed 2026-06-23). Open at 10815 E Winner Rd, Independence, MO 64052; Wed–Sat lunch 11am–3pm + dinner 5–9pm, closed Sun–Tue; phone (816) 836-2222. Corroborated by City of Independence dining listing (https://www.independencemo.gov/visitors/places-eat/fine-dining/vivilore).

Footnotes

1. Vivilore — official site — https://www.vivilore.com/ — accessed 2026-05-30 (concept, “viva/lore” name origin, modern American menu, three floors of retail, hours, courtyard, The Mandarin event space, August 2012 founding, address 10815 E Winner Rd, phone (816) 836-2222). ↩

2. rotisseriechickenqueen — “Vivilore in Independence, Missouri has it all” — https://rotisseriechickenqueen.com/2015/07/10/vivilore-in-independence-missouri-has-it-all-its-a-must-eat-and-see/ — accessed 2026-05-30 (founders Whit Ross & Cindy Foster as Independence-native siblings; catering / 23-year pilot backgrounds; 2010 building purchase; two-year historic renovation; former Sermon-Anderson antique business; Truman-home window-treatment detail). ↩ ↩²

3. Kansas City Star (via Yahoo News) — “Kansas City area hidden gem restaurant has a new owner. Here’s how it’s changing” — https://ca.news.yahoo.com/kansas-city-area-hidden-gem-210111590.html — accessed 2026-05-30 (Jollene Hastings purchase January 2024; Lee’s Summit, husband Mark, two children; discovered 2019; chef Chadd Williams; Swan Dive → The Mandarin; signature chicken salad sandwich & crab cakes; Wed–Sun lunch/dinner hours). ↩ ↩² ↩³

4. AllMenus — “Vivilore menu — Independence MO 64052” — https://www.allmenus.com/mo/independence/733014-vivilore/menu/ — accessed 2026-06-21 (full itemized lunch + dinner menu with prices: appetizers, soup/salad, lunch entrées, sandwiches, dinner mains, desserts; chicken salad $14, crab cakes $16, ribeye $40, salmon $28, etc.). Corroborated by Vivilore official menu (https://www.vivilore.com/menu) and Yelp listing (https://www.yelp.com/biz/vivilore-independence) for item names and current operating service times. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹ ↩²⁰ ↩²¹ ↩²² ↩²³ ↩²⁴ ↩²⁵