Peroni Vivi in Stile at Salvos, Headingley
A few months ago, Peroni got in touch with me about their new iPhone & Android app Vivi in Stile. We all know that Italians are ever-stylish, and the app features loads of great content on how to take inspiration from Italia to inject a little va-va-voom (hang on... is that french?) into your own life. Whether it's clothing, design and lifestyle tips you're after, or hotspots to swing by in your own city, Vivi in Stile is all you need to keep you entertained.
After I'd had a good nosey around at what was on offer from the app - I love their catwalk roundups most of all, the perfect length for reading on a tea break at work! - Peroni asked me to follow their recommendations and visit some of the places they feature in their Leeds Hot List. With £100 in my pocket to use however I saw fit, you guessed it, my mind jumped straight to food and clothes. And so to Salvos we went...
The "Esplorare" tab of the app lets you select your city and provides Food, Drinks, Design, Fashion and Events sections to check out. After a look through the Leeds food tab, packed full of the city's top culinary spots, Matt and I settled on Salvo's - an award winning Italian restaurant not far from Matt's old student haunts of Headingley. Well, when in Rome...
Vivi in Stile calls Salvo's a Leeds Institution, and that is it. Matt and I went to town, to start we ordered Crostini Misti and specials of baked mozzarella and mussels. For mains, Matt tucked into a beautifully presented plate of pork belly sitting on a bed of red pepper and caper ragu (Maiale Al Aceto). I chowed down on "Pasta Alla Pecorara", a pork ragu with roasted peppers and sweet, Italian ewe's ricotta. A mixed salad cut through the richness of the generous portion and grilled aubergines were an excellent complement. For dessert, if you can believe we still had room, we couldn't decide. So, natch, we ordered the platter. Beaut. All was swilled down with a lovely bottle of chianti. It's plain to see that Vivi in Stile hit the nail on the head with that one.
Later that week I fancied some shopping. Living in the same place for a while can have you heading to the same haunts over and over, so instead of heading to Topshop, or to the Victoria Quarter for my kicks, I used the Peroni app to see what else on offer. Vivi in Stile has a great selection of more sustainable fashion choices; I started at Blue Rinse, located just to the side of the Corn Exchange, and found 2 floors of vintage wares packed full of gems from every decade. Next up was Bird's Yard, a haven of handmade wonders and a top alternative shopping environment if the high street is a little too samey for you.
I've written about some of my favourite apps before and I even have a post coming up on how I use apps to help my productivity at work, so I thought Vivi in Stile was something that could work for a lot of you guys. If you're visiting Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow or London then I really recommend you download it to catch some of the great spots that might be missed on tourist websites or recommended by leaflets in hotel lobbies. Peroni have really done their research and their hot list contains nearly every one of my favourite places in Leeds, plus detailed blurbs and their contact details so you can plan your visit. The "Esclusivo" tab may well have relevant offers and deals for you too.
You can download the Peroni Vivi in Stile app for FREE! Click here to go to iTunes.
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