Cibo

This review was first published in September 1999

CIBO was the choice of William Sieghart, whom I met to discuss the charity StreetSmart, which he and Mary-Lou Sturridge of The Groucho Club launched last year. By charging tables just an additional £1 on the bill in the three months leading up to Christmas and the New Year, a handful of restaurants raised a significant sum to help rebuild the lives of the homeless and abandoned who live on the streets. I am lending my support, to encourage more restaurants this year to join the scheme which helps redress the balance between the warmly, expensively, well-fed in restaurants and the shivering outcasts outside. Any interested restaurateur can call Nick Emley at StreetSmart on 0171 292 5615. It was a while since I had been to Cibo and the same plus points were in place. The amiable owner Gino was supervising service, colourful pottery plates flattered the Italian food and various extras such as olives and crostini fetched up on the table. The set-price lunch at £12.50 for two courses stays remarkably good value and includes such interesting items as clams in a chilli-spiked broth followed by grilled eels with pancetta which I chose. William ate his favourite dish of grilled lobster with spaghetti. Fresh summer berries was our dessert. Slow delivery is another constant over the 10 years that Cibo has been open, but it is a restaurant for whiling away an afternoon, turning to the grappa, becoming ever more receptive to the cheeky bas-relief artworks that decorate the walls. Of course, nothing of this applied to us.