I want to make life delicious for others
Margarita Fores’s Cibo, ‘homecooked’ and homegrown, turns 20 years younger
Margarita Fores’s Cibo, ‘homecooked’ and homegrown, turns 20 years younger
Last Thursday night, at the SM Aura Premier, Cibo celebrated its 20th anniversary. A simple yet grand party that marks two decades of serving mouthwatering Italian go-to food. According to Margarita Forés, also known as
Gaita, the chef patron of the restaurant chain, Cibo doesn’t want to show off its age. In fact, it wants us to know that it’s getting younger. With its official tag, #20YearsYoung, Cibo’s anniversary event was screaming of
teen spirit echoing within the walls of SM Aura Premier. The event was attended by celebrities and influencers such as Bianca Gonzalez, Jess Connelley, Raymond Gutierez, Bianca King, and Phoemela Baranda, among many others.
It was a night of pop music, good wine, and delicious Italian street food.
“Cibo has been around for 20 years. I was in my 30s when I started it. It has been a great journey so far but we’re going to keep evolving. We need to keep evolving because our market has always been the young people,” Gaita said. “The Millennials, my son’s age group, are Cibo’s current market. We’re still going to create new things and bring new things. That is the reason behind our theme, 20 Years Young.”
According to Gaita, when she was just starting her career as a chef, the dining industry was very structured and distant from the concept of home cooking, which was her style—an approach she learned in Italy. “I basically brought that ‘home cooking’ style into whatever work I was doing. At first, I worked for small catering gigs, which eventually became bigger and bigger. After 10 years of catering and dining gigs, I opened Cibo, which was fueled by my signature ‘home cooking’ style,” she said. “Well, 20 years down the road, I am confident to say that it worked beautifully. That Italian feel of your mother or grandmother cooking for you, that’s the passion and vibe I can proudly share with Manila and that’s what I can bring to the table of the dining industry.”
Blown away. That’s how Gaita de- scribed what she felt during the celebration. “I am super overwhelmed and humbled at the same time. It has been a real rollercoaster ride but a great journey so far,” she said. “I am looking forward to so much more years to learn and, at the same time, I’m just really thankful that people trusted me when I started, not just Cibo as a brand but everything else that I’ve been doing in my career as a chef. It’s a real gift of fulfillment to be able to feed and nurture people. My whole mission in life has always been about making it worth living for others, which I express through food and dining. I want to make life delicious for others. I am just thankful that I can still do that today.”
Cibo was fueled by my signature ‘homecooking’ style. Well, 20 years down the road, I am confident to say that it worked beautifully.