Cibo e Gente
is Italian for "food for the people." Because none
of its entrees are priced over $14.95, Cibo e Gente is an appropriate
name for this new Smith Street trattoria. It has prices "the
people" can afford.
If it were up to Andrea Borio, who was the executive chef for
three of the owners’ Manhattan restaurants: Boom, Via Della Pace
and Via Delle Zoccolette, before leading the kitchen here, he’d
add the word "realta," or real, to the restaurant’s
name.
"It’s real food," Bario proclaims. "Classic Northern
Italian cooking with big, satisfying tastes." And for little
people, the children’s menu offers entrees ranging from $5 to
$7.
Dinner at Cibo e Gente, which opened in June, might begin with
thin slices of raw beef "carpaccio" and pecorino romano
cheese.
There’s an authentic lasagna that incorporates a mix of veal,
pork and beef layered with two sauces: a meaty bolognese and
creamy bechamel. Bario covers a lobster tail with thin slices
of potato then bakes it until its coating is brittle; and he
serves a roasted sea bass with black olives and capers in a light
wine sauce that sounds identical to the fish I savored recently
in Rome. Sigh.
On the dessert roundup, there’s the unavoidable tiramisu and
sorbet and more interesting items such as a dried apricot panna
cotta (Italian custard) with caramel sauce, a dark chocolate
cake and another cake with tart, moist, lemon-tinged tiers covered
in meringue.
The setting is as unpretentious as the cuisine. Every chair and
table in the 145-seat restaurant is mismatched; an open kitchen
affords diners a view of the cooks at work; a garden in back
makes a lovely spot to sip Prosecco; and when autumn crisps the
air, logs will be thrown on the fireplace to warm you.
Cibo e Gente (174 Smith St. between Warren and Wyckoff streets
in Boerum Hill) accepts cash only. Entrees: $8.95-$14.95. The
restaurant serves dinner daily and brunch on weekends from 11
am to 5 pm. For reservations call (718) 501-1011.
PEOPLE’S CHOICE
