This limited-time offer is available at all Cibo outlets nationwide.
It was never his plan to enter the food and beverage industry, but Joel Binamara, the man behind the blog Market Manila, has become quite the influential Philippine culinary figure that when the late Anthony Bourdain took his TV series No Reservations to the country for the first time, he was one of the people his producers contacted.
One thing led to another and Binamara somehow found himself and his home staff in Cebu preparing lechon for the closing segment of the Philippines episode. After Bourdain declared his spit-roasted pig “Best pig ever,” he almost left BInamara no choice but to start selling it, which is how his restaurant Zubuchon came about.
Years later, renowned restauranteur and chef Margarita Forés was opening her first Cebu branch of her casual Italian concept Cibo and her friendship with the Binamaras made their move to the southern province much easier. “Joel is also my neighbor, and he and (wife) Marga were so helpful when we were opening the Cebu branch,” Forés narrates. “They even allowed us to use a part of their commissary at the beginning.”
Perhaps it was working in close proximity with Zubuchon’s chefs and their delicious Cebu-style lechon that sparked the idea of their current collaboration—Cibo’s Italian porchetta. This version combines the succulent all-natural pork belly that has been meticulously developed by Zubuchon’s chefs, that is stuffed, rolled, and roasted by Cibo in the Italian way.
They serve this in solo, familia, and festa portions, complete with mushroom rice pilaf, apple and pear mostarda, red wine liver sauce, and spicy tomatoes. To accompany this dish and make it a feast, Cibo also recommends their newest pasta spaghettini allo scoglio which is assorted seafood in tomato sauce. Their modest dessert lineup has also been enhanced with a refreshing affogato from their granita machine, and their pasticceria line offering Italian pastries perfect for merienda launching nationwide in July 2024.
Cibo is celebrating 27 years as the local standard for Italian modern cuisine and it stays true to its promise of consistency and innovation with collaborations like this with Zubuchon. With chef Forés’ current rebrand and her announcement of opening her signature restaurant Margarita, we can only expect more exciting new things coming out of Cibo as well.
