Ahhh Miami Spice, when the yummy food becomes so much more accessible to the rest of us working folk.

I had been to Cibo before; their food and service was great so I wanted to try out their Miami Spice Menu.  Cibo Wine Bar has a wonderful ambiance, and we were seated next to the glass-encased wine room, where they have someone stationed who will attach herself to a lift and raise herself up to get you a wine – it’s almost like a mini Cirque. Now on to the food and drinks…

They have a lovely cocktail and wine menu…I chose to begin with a delicious Basil Martini, which was served alongside a wonderful half loaf of rosemary bread with a side of olives. Wonderful start.  We chose our meals.  I chose the Tuna Carpaccio as my appetizer (one of my favorite foods), Lobster Ravioli as my entree, and the Panna Cotta as my dessert (another favorite).

First, let me say that the customer service is fantastic at Cibo. Why would I be in need of customer service to be fantastic? Because two of three items on the Miami Spice Menu were a little too fishy.

When the tuna arrived, it looked a little grey and it tasted quite fishy.  This being one of my favorite dishes of all time, I was quite confident that it was not edible.  However, my dining companion’s Shrimp Diavola was quite tasty and consisted of black tiger shrimp in a spicy sauce.  The staff was very apologetic and immediately offered to take my tuna and replace it with anything – I chose the Polpettine – and they were okay; they’re meatballs.

The entrees arrived and my lobster ravioli looked beautiful and so did the Chianti Braised Short Ribs settled on gorgonzola polenta across from me.  The difference?  The short ribs were delicious and my lobster ravioli tasted funky; great sauce, concerning filling.  So we shared the short ribs.  Our waiter who was lovely offered to replace my dish, but by this point I was a little weary, so he said he would reduce that plate off our final cost.  So we both laughed and joked that there was no seafood in either desserts.

The desserts arrived.  Please understand that my mother has trained my taste buds in this area because she makes a heavenly panna cotta, and this was a great one that was sitting on a lovely berry compote.  It was delicious!  Across the table, there was a Chocolate Baci Bombe, which reminded me of a big chocolate truffle with a hazelnut filling — yum, but my panna cotta still won.

So, this was one of those things that happen because Cibo is lovely….just ummm, you may want to pass on the tuna and lobster.

Happy Miami Spice Months!

Here’s the menu: