CIBO’s First Anniversary

Today marked the first anniversary of the opening of Tera and Alfredo Ancona’s CIBO in Sausalito, and happily it was a beautiful day from the very start.

Since it opened a year ago, CIBO has become one of my favorite weekend hangouts. I normally spend a couple of hours there on Sunday morning on my way to the gym, studying Italian and enjoying both Tera’s ever-changing pastries (after all, I am going to the gym!) and their excellent Blue Bottle coffee.

To celebrate today’s anniversary CIBO offered free drip coffee all day. Further, starting for a couple of hours at 8:30 when I wandered by, Vien Dobui, one of the official trainers for Blue Bottle coffee, was there with Alfredo offering shots of three of Blue Bottle’s seasonal single origin offerings:

~ Ethiopian Amaro Gayo Natural
~ Brazilian Chapada Diamantina
~ Colombian Mesa de los Santos

paired with a sampling of Tara’s handiwork -- muffinettes, airy cookies made with an eclair-like dough, and mini versions of CIBO’s polenta pop tarts with fruit filling.

A great way to start the day, and what better place to hang out on a Spring morning with the brick walls lit by the sun streaming through the windows.

Plus, only a couple of days to go before my next visit on Sunday morning!

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Anglo-Italo Cooperation Results in St. George’s Day Success

In a post last month I mentioned how, on a recent visit to Wellington’s Wine Bar in Sausalito, we both learned of the impending celebration of St. George’s Day at Wellington's, and sampled Wells Bombardier for the first time. A most auspicious day on both counts.

Yesterday was St. George’s Day and I met up with a couple of friends, Kaz and Antonio, at Wellington’s to join the party. Wellington’s was about as full as I have ever seen it and there was a definite festive atmosphere beyond the customary TGIF buzz.

Wellington’s proprietor, Jeremy John, had arranged with Alfredo Ancona to provide the food for the event. Alfredo is the chef at Angelino in downtown Sausalito, and, with his wife, Tara, owns CIBO just across Bridgeway from Wellington’s. Jeremy and Alfredo had settled on a menu for the evening of:

~ Porchetta – the classic herb-seasoned Italian pork loin, which Alfredo prepared rolled in pork belly with the skin outside
~ Minted fresh English peas
~ Mashed potatoes

The meal would conclude with the classic, but curiously-named, English dessert – spotted dick.

I was also eagerly anticipating the event since it would mark the Wellington's premiere of the “caja China” (literally “Chinese box”) – a cooking box originally devised by Chinese immigrants to Cuba in the 1800’s, which is now being manufactured and distributed by a firm in Florida named La Caja China.

The box is made of heavy plywood lined on the inside with metal and has a removable cover with a metal tray. The food is placed on a rack inside the box, the box is covered, and hot coals are piled in the tray on top. The food is then cooked by radiant heat.

Alfredo had recently purchased a caja China and was going to fire it up to cook the porchetta. Here is an excellent video showing the preparation and cooking of a whole pig in a caja China.

When we arrived at Wellington’s, Alfredo and his CIBO colleague, Jorge, were already well along with the porchetta. We ordered some Bombadiers and joined them on the deck overlooking the Bay.

Not long after we arrived, Alfredo lifted off the caja China top and flipped the rack holding the porchetta.

The crowd began to grow a bit restive with the spreading fragrance of roasting meat, but happily the porchetta was soon done and emerged in all its glory.

Jorge then quickly heated the peas...

... and Alfredo began carving the porchetta for the salivating masses.

The meal turned out very well. The porchetta was moist and the skin of the pork belly crispy. I had never had minted peas before and frankly was not looking forward to them, but the mint was not overpowering and it was a good counterpoint to the pork. Alfredo had added some sour cream to the mashed potatoes and they were fantastic.

The spotted dick, prepared by Tara Ancona (CIBO’s pastry chef), also made its appearance and was served seated on some Crème Anglais.

Although I am not sure what recipe Tara used, per Wikipedia:

“Spotted dick is a steamed suet pudding containing dried fruit (usually currants) commonly served with custard, and a standard part of English cuisine. 'Spotted' refers to the dried fruit (which resemble spots) and 'dick' may be a contraction/ corruption of the last syllable of the word 'pudding' or a corruption of the word 'dog,' since 'spotted dog' is another name for the dish.”

For any who are interested, there are some commercial versions available, although one wonders about spotted dick in a can (thankfully we did not have to "go there" last night). On the other hand, obviously someone must buy it!

The only disappointment of the day was that we had been lead to believe that Jeremy would be present in full St. George Day regalia, complete with cape.

However, such was not the case. Perhaps next year? Something to look forward to for St. George’s Day 2011!

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A New Sausalito Spot for Breakfast (and Lunch)

It is always great to have a comfortable place to go for a relaxed breakfast. A couple of months ago, CIBO (“food” in Italian) opened in Sausalito at the corner of Bridgeway and Pine, right next to the McCloud Design Studio.

While I was initially skeptical as to whether Sausalito could support yet another restaurant, after giving CIBO an initial try I was won over. Since then I have been spending a number of weekend mornings there enjoying the great food, atmosphere and people.

Although it is a brand new restaurant, CIBO has deep Sausalito roots. Like many who live in Sausalito, our “go-to” Italian restaurant for many years has been Angelino Restaurant on Bridgeway owned by Pasquale and Donna Ancona. Although Angelino is in the heart of the main Sausalito tourist zone and has its share of customers who are only visiting Sausalito for the day, it has always also prided itself in being a neighborhood place that takes good care of the locals, and we have had many pleasant meals there with our family and friends. Plus, apart from Pasquale who is originally from the Naples area, there have at least a couple of waiters from Italy with whom I can practice my feeble Italian.


Alfredo Ancona, Pasquale and Donna’s son, and his wife, Tara, are the owners of CIBO. Apart from just serving good food, they have also demonstrated in many ways at the restaurant support for the local Sausalito community and local producers. To point out just a few examples:

~ The Sausalito architectural firm of Donald K. Olson designed the restaurant and helped preserve some of brick and other elements from the previous structure which adds a great deal to the restaurant's charm and character.





~ All of the dishes that are used at CIBO come from Heath Ceramics at the north end of Sausalito.

~ Robert Bengtson photographs grace the walls, all reflecting design elements found in or near the restaurant.

Needless to say, any restaurant is really about the cuisine, and happily CIBO gets high marks there. For starters they serve organic coffee from Blue Bottle, a Oakland-based coffee company. I had never tried their coffee before but, now having had it at CIBO, I think I am beginning to understand what the fuss is about.

On the food side, Tara is a pastry chef and there is always an interesting variety of pastries to accompany your morning beverages. CIBO also serves lunch and, while I have not yet had a chance to stop by later in the day, they have a number of tasty-looking panini in their display case every morning, not to mention a variety of preserves, cookies, and assorted Italian yummies.

To round it out, Tara and her staff, including Guillaume, Tasha, Carina, Ojha and Charley, are always cheerful and welcoming, even though they have to get up early to bake the pastries and work hard get ready for those of us who like to arrive at 7:00AM when they open.

And, if you are there at the right time, you may even run into Pasquale and Donna enjoying a cup of morning coffee!

CIBO is well worth a visit.

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