Make
me a Pita Sandwich
A taste of Cibo
By Looza Mahaju
If you are as much of a sandwich lover
as me and have searched the entire cityscape for a good sandwich
without much success, then you haven’t been to the right places.
You definitely haven’t been to Cibo Sandwich Bar. Yes, a ‘Sandwich
Bar’.
Located in Lazimpat, on the lap of Hotel Ambassador and a stone’s
throw from the British Embassy, Cibo is definitely ‘the’
place to be for a lunch of deliciously crafted sandwiches which
you can wash down with smooth cappuccinos. “We had the idea
of starting a sandwich bar since a long time ago and finally opened
it to the public in March 2006,” says Sagun Pradhan, the owner
of the bar. As for the name of the chic eatery, it was purely accidental.
While leafing through a fashion magazine, Pradhan came upon a name
that caught his attention: Cibo had a nice ring to it. That name
stayed on his mind and when the time came to name the bar they were
opening, it was the obvious choice. “It was appropriate because
it relates to food in Italian,” says Pradhan. After months
of hard work, Cibo was finally ‘officially opened’ in
September 2006.
Cibo Sandwich Bar, as the name suggests, specializes in sandwiches,
but not the usual “what-you-can-find-in-between-the-breads”
kind, but in the exotic pita bread sandwiches. Pita is brown double
layered flat or pocket bread that is generally associated with the
Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines. Its use is prevalent
through the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula to India and Afghanistan,
coinciding with the spread of the Hellenistic world. While the bread
itself is taken as an accompanying dish in the cuisines it originated
from; in Cibo it is served as a whole meal in itself. The pita sandwiches
at Cibo are served with salad and chips and each bite is delicious.
Keshar Lama, who oversees the kitchen, excellently prepares every
order and with years of experience behind the kitchen counter, makes
sure that it is made to perfection. With the open kitchen, guests
are able to see what goes into their order. “The idea behind
the open kitchen counter is to allow guests to see how the food
is prepared and to get a hint of the rich aroma even before it is
served,” says Pradhan, while Keshar Lama busies himself with
our order. And it’s one idea that works every time; even before
the order is served, its rich aroma and the wonderful fragrance
of fresh local ingredients fill the air and you can hardly wait
for it to arrive on your table.
And if you want something to wash down your sandwich with, there’s
the finest homegrown coffee. “We serve Himalaya Arabica coffee,
one of the excellent Nepali coffees found in the market,”
says Gopal Paudel, who supervises the services. And if sandwiches
aren’t enough, which is hardly the case given their generous
proportions, Cibo also serves excellent pastas. Keeping up with
the times and the season, they plan to change their menu accordingly.
“To add variety to our menu and offer different tastes to
our customers who are mostly expatriates and Nepali, we introduced
pasta as the other choice for a main course,” says Pradhan,
adding, “What we serve bears our hallmark of insistence on
quality. We use all local organic ingredients and highly nutritious
flour to make pita bread.”
“The sandwich we serve,” says Pradhan, “Is a complete
meal experience in itself. It’s not only a whole meal, but
a healthy choice too.” If you are in the mood for a quick
sandwich to serve as a light meal, you know where to go. |
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