Jimmy Burke’s love affair with food dates back to his childhood, when his parents owned a restaurant in South Boston and he worked there on Saturdays and holidays. At home, food was every bit as important and he was fortunate to have his mother and aunts, all phenomenal cooks, as mentors. “I was always around food and food became part of me,” he recalls. When interviewed and asked who in his career had influenced him the most, the award-winning chef and cookbook author Chris Schlesinger answered, “Jimmy’s the first chef who taught me to have a respect for food, and whatever I was making to make it the best.”

In all, Jimmy has owned and operated thirteen restaurants. Osteria Vivo Restaurant & Bar is the fourth and latest that he has co-owned with his wife, Joanie Wilson. Joanie leaves the kitchen to Jimmy but brings her own unique energy and vision to the front of the house, making sure that everything—from the design and decor to daily operations—flows seamlessly. Osteria Vivo represents the culmination of their nearly four decades of experience in the restaurant business. 

Chef Douglas Rodrigues’ first memories of food were his grandfather’s farm in Scituate, Massachusetts. Running through the fields, picking fresh corn, tomatoes, cucumbers and more really set the foundation for his appreciation for fresh food and interest in becoming a chef. He got his first taste of the restaurant industry at thirteen years old when he was driven to find a job that would underwrite his penchant for skateboards. He spent one year flipping burgers at Bergson’s, a local diner chain, but yearned to recreate the kind of cooking he saw Julia Child do while watching television with his mother. He made the jump to fine dining in 1999, working in the kitchens of some of the South Shore’s most prestigious restaurants.

After years at the Atlantica on Cohasset Harbor, Tosca in Hingham, Saporito’s Florence Club Café in Hull, and The Winsor House Inn in Duxbury, Rodrigues wanted more. He called Clio in 2006, set up a stagé and was offered the position. In a major departure from the rustic-style cooking with which he’d become familiar, Rodrigues was thrust into Clio’s disciplined world where each ingredient is treated with a different, globally-influenced technique.

Sylvain Linozzi, Bar Manager, grew up in Beaune, Burgundy. Graduate from cooking school, trained in oenology and front and back of the house, with experience in fine dining, luxury and four stars establishments.

“the way in which meals are enjoyed is very important to the happiness of life.” Brillat-Savarin

Michael Burke and Sharon Ryder brother and sister of Jimmy Burke have been in the restaurant business all their lives. Mike a chef in his own right, has worked at some of the country’s best resorts in Arizona, Las Vegas, Mohegan Sun in Connecticut as well as some of greater Boston’s best restaurants including the Hyatt Regency in Cambridge, Allegro and Tuscan Grill in Waltham and as a Chef partner at Riva Restaurant in Scituate. Mike Joined the kitchen staff at Vivo in Bridgton Maine as the Chef de Cuisine. He now will be heading up the prep staff at Osteria Vivo.
Sharon Ryder has been a bartender for many years, Working at Georges Café and Allegro on Boylston.Sharon has cooked at Vivo in Bridgton Maine creating her famous pasta and ran a successful breakfast program at Riva restaurant in Scituate. Sharon will be in charge of all the fresh pasta at Osteria Vivo