Cibo Wine Bar

Critic's Review

We have reports that Cibo has closed, and since they've closed their OpenTable account I'd have to say it's true, They've had the place up for sale at increasingly lower prices; so the rumor that they'll be re-opening is erroneous. They still have their pre-opening message on their answering machine ("We'll be opening in late November").

It's interesting that they're advertising a $2M buildout for the sale but have been trying to pass this off to the city as a $250K remodel.

Cibo is what happens when an arrogant "CEO" posts pictures of un-permitted construction on Instagram, and then management lies about it. Canadians.

*****
Cibo has put itself on the market for what would seem to be a good value, except it's not clear what's going to have to be done for them to clear up their building code problems. You can review the case here. To see what needs to be done, you can view the permits under the Activity tab on this page. There's apparently some gas piping which need to be replaced which seems would involve digging.

This is a complicated case because apparently the work done exceeds some pct value of the building which changed the requirements in some way.

Review 12/21/15

While I was looking into the building code investigation, I noticed that Cibo is now open for lunch. A bunch of new places have opened that aren't open for lunch, so I figured I'd check it out. As we get closer to Christmas you won't want to be anywhere near the Mall or Target, but I figured today was safe. They don't have a lunch menu up for Fort Lauderdale, but I assumed it would be similar to the Coral Gables menu (which we have here).

When I got there I was happy to see that they don't have the valet at lunch; I hate having to go into restaurants with my "valuables". There were only a few cars in the lot; nobody knows that they're open for lunch, plus people are shopping this week.

At the entrance there's a big wine display and a hostess stand with nobody manning it. I peered into the dining room and didn't see a soul. The bar is completely sectioned off from the dining room, and it doesn't play well during the day. I think they still have the Bar Italia furniture, and I wouldn't want to eat at one of those tables. A dude in a suit eventually came over and showed me to a table.

Cibo Fort Lauderdale Bar

He didn't offer me a booth, but when I saw them I figured I wouldn't like them. The low backs might look nice, but they're not comfortable and they don't offer any privacy; the main reasons for getting a booth.

Cibo Booths in raised section

The place has a lot of glass partitions, which don't appeal to me. Better than mirrors, but I'm a fan of privacy. There is zero privacy anywhere in this restaurant.

There was 1 other table occupied at 2pm; They're probably not too happy with the turnout so far.

Cibo Dining Room

My server offered me a beverage; they're pushing the liters of sparkling water. No iced tea and no smaller bottles, so I just asked for a seltzer. Bad start; their 3rd restaurant in South Florida and the Canadians haven't figured out that iced tea is a must at lunch time?

No Iced Tea at Cibo

They do have a lunch menu; I went with the 3 course fixed price for $18, with a caesar salad and spaghetti carbonara. They actually charge more here than in Coral Gables; the menu they have posted is $16 for that location. Authentic carbonara has to be served immediately, so you can't order it in a busy restaurant as it will be ruined by the time you get it. I figured it was safe with 2 tables.

Bread was unexpected, and good bread too. Sort of a foccacia-like rosemary loaf. A nice soft crumb suitable for dipping.

Cibo Bread

They also have rosemary infused oil; so if you don't like rosemary you're sunk. But it made a nice dip.

Cibo Rosemary infused Olive Oil

The salad came out quickly; it was much bigger than I expected. Kind of dry looking so I asked for some extra dressing. Good thing I did.

Cibo Caesar Salad

Kind of a strange rendition; I've expressed my view of "shaved" parmesan. No croutons. Bacon. Not your typical Caesar. The dressing wasn't really caesar either, but it wasn't a bad dressing. I ate about half the salad and put it aside. If I ate the whole thing I wouldn't be eating much else.

They have the obligatory open kitchen. I was trying to figure out the repeating BOCI; it's one of those eye puzzles. It took me a few times to realize it was CIBO. Not sure why they started with a B.

Cibo Fort Lauderdale Kitchen

I also was wondering how they were going to explain to the city that the big sign was up before they got there. Music is generally mood music: Triptico, Samba Noir. I don't know how the employees can listen to this stuff all day.

The pasta was delivered a few minutes later. I took a look, and my heart sank a bit. Oh boy.

Cibo spaghetti Carbonara

More shaved parmesan. I could tell immediately that this was very wrong. Subbing pancetta and parmesan for guanciale and Romano is one thing, but the pancetta wasn't even cooked. It's supposed to be crisp; do YOU like uncooked bacon? No black pepper, and the white sauce sitting at the bottom of the dish was a bad sign. My server offered me cheese and pepper; too late to add the pepper now but I took the cheese.

Cibo Spaghetti

A couple of bites and I realized that I was eating spaghetti with parmesan cream sauce; I doubt there was even 1 egg yolk in here. Carbonara is an egg sauce; not a cream sauce. This is what you get at The Cheesecake Factory.

Cibo 'carbonara' cream sauce

The point of the guanciale (or pancetta) is for the rendered fat to flavor the sauce; egg yolks, romano cheese and black pepper. It's a great dish when made authentically. Problem is, no-one makes it authentically. At least not in Fort Lauderdale.

This was just a lot of sticky calories. Dessert comes with the fixed price lunch; the menu says chef's choice, but they gave me a choice of anything on the dessert menu. They just give you a smaller portion with the lunch. I went with the ricotta cheesecake.

Cibo Lunch Cheesecake

Not bad. I'd already eaten more than I expected, so I just had a couple of tastes. This probably would have been better with coffee, but I had to run. She didn't charge me for the soda, which is a nice customer service thing. Most place around here would have charged me $4.

Conclusion

I was a little bit surprised by Cibo. It wasn't as nice as it appears in the pictures, although it probably plays better at night. I was surprised by the portions; but I wasn't surprised by the lack of authenticity of the food.

Fake Italian food in a nice environment. At least they give you plenty of food. I give them credit for not nickel and diming. It's kind of unusual these days.

Some Interesting Developments

It seems that the city paid Cibo a visit regarding the re-model, and Cibo claimed that NO WORK WAS DONE! Now we all saw the dreary pictures of Bar Italia, and the beautiful new pictures of Cibo. Additionally, here's some pictures that CEO Nick DiNotello posted on Instagram:

Cibo Construction (from CEO's Instagram)

Cibo c2

Cibo bricks

You can follow this case with this link: Cibo Case

If you're going to break the law, don't post pictures of the work on instagram. I can see some small independent operator doing work without getting the proper permits. But big time restaurant chains lying about doing work to the government? Are you kidding me?