Trattoria Cibreo by Shelley Lance, Blog Editor
One of our best meals while vacationing in Florence was at Trattoria Cibreo, part of the much admired mini-empire that includes Cibreo Ristorante (fanciest and most expensive), Trattoria Cibreo (also known as Cibreino), Caffè Cibreo (coffee and pastries), and the intriguing Teatro del Sale ( sort of a food club plus theater), all located outside the Mercato Sant’ Ambrogio (which my friends said was the most charming of the Florence food markets, but I never got to the area early enough to experience the market).
Trattoria Cibreo is casual and small- and doesn’t take reservations. We were lucky enough to walk right in. The trattoria shares a kitchen with the ristorante and the guidebooks say the food served is quite similar, but far less expensive. (After lunch we walked by the ristorante, which is right around the corner, and the menu over there did indeed seem to be almost the same. The dining room at the ristorante is far more elegant, of course, and I expect the wine list is longer and more expensive.) Given the very reasonable prices at the trattoria, our lunch was pretty amazing.
For my appetizer I ordered pappa al pomodoro (photo second from top)- the famous Florentine chilled bread tomato soup. Cibreo’s version was a voluptious, smooth puree, with the pure, intense flavor of tomato and olive oil. My husband, Frank, ordered the buffalo mozzarella (photo third from top)- which arrived at the table unadorned, a plump white braid of cheese on a plain white plate. The taste was simple, milky, delicious. Other appetizers on the table included a divine herb-buttered plate of soft polenta, a sformata (savory custard baked in a mold and unmolded) of potato and ricotta served with tomato sauce, and a fresh, peppery, bright tasting little tomato aspic.
For entrees, I ordered one of the signature dishes, collo di pollo ripieno, (photo bottom left) which is a chicken neck stuffed with chicken sausage. It was good- the sausage had a soft, mousse like texture and was served cold. The surprise is that the dish is garnished with a roasted chicken head! The best thing on the plate, though, was a very large spoonful of glorious handmade mayonnaise, yellow in color and intensely flavored with excellent olive oil. Frank ordered the veal sausage with pistachios, served with the same wondrous mayo, and others at the table enjoyed chicken meatballs in tomato sauce.
Cibreo’s signature dessert, which everyone seemed to be ordering, was a deeply flavored, soft textured, very simple flourless chocolate cake (photo bottom right).
My friend Bob told me one of the best dishes he ever had at Cibreino was cockscombs and sweetbreads, which he said sounded odd but tasted delicious. Why all the cockscombs and chicken heads? I think I found the answer while leafing through one of the books I bought for the trip, A Culinary Traveller in Tuscany, by Beth Elon. Elon is not talking about Cibreo Ristorante or Trattoria, but she happens to mention, in the headnote to a chicken liver risotto recipe called Risotto co’i Cibreo, that cibreo “is one of the more ancient traditional foods of Florence, a mixed stew of innards and the crest of a cock.” Aha!
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