Financial Times Zibibbo Review

We were saved by Zibibbo, a restaurant a good taxi ride away from the historic centre. On the last evening, it cured us of our discontent and offered celestial sensations to rival those of the great galleries and vistas of the city.

Benedetta Vitale, co-founder of the famous Cibreo and now padrona at Zibibbo, offered us, as a warm-up, soft and melting moulded sformatini of cauliflower and broccoli. A shared antipasto of tuna and crunchy mini radicchio was followed by two dishes of seafood pasta competing for the title of best primo piatto ever tasted: black tagliatelle with calamari, tomato and herbs versus spaghetti coated with fresh seabass roe.

By the time the pungent stuffed pigeon, the lamb, lentils and peppers arrived we had stopped talking and smiled up at the waiting staff like happy, lobotomised idiots. They made the (exquisite) wine choices for us.

It was the sort of dinner after which it would have been perfectly fine to face the firing squad. With Italy, there will always be a next time.