The Things We Ate: Via Cibo

And... we're back! Happy New Years everyone! 

Sorry guys. As bloggers we promised ourselves that we would stay on top of things and have something exciting for our readers every week. But then dinners, wine, shopping and the general Christmas and New Years frenzy hit us... and one month later we're here.

Now that the Holidaze are over we are ready to rave about one of our favorite restaurants in Calgary - Via Cibo. This restaurant was initially recommended to us by a friend. Due to its close proximity to IKEA it was our go-to place after a long day of picking out our Malm bedroom suites and Poang chairs when we first moved to Calgary in 2013.

Before the new year we had a friend visiting here from Houston, Texas. Instead of taking her to dine to a nearby restaurant downtown we decided to venture to the Southeast of Calgary to Via Cibo, and let her experience this hidden gem for herself!

Our iPhone's are not the best at taking pictures... but this the
outside of Via Cibo we captured. You can't miss it if you are in the
Deerfoot Meadows area! Via Cibo is located at: 7929 11th Street SE.

We would really like to pretend that we took this picture, but
sadly we didn't. Photo credit goes to Via Cibo itself and we
shamelessly used this picture from their Instagram :)

The best way to describe the venue is somewhere between a fast-food and sit-down restaurant. For those of you that have been to Famoso, this restaurant has a very similar concept. Like any fast-food restaurant, the menu appears above the cash register. You are given a variety of menu options and once you have made your choice, you place your order at the register and pay for your meal upfront. You receive a small placard with your number and proceed to the drinks and dessert section. If you choose to select pop, an alcoholic beverage or dessert, you pay for that separately at a different register and then proceed to the self-serve soda and water station. The restaurant is an open kitchen so as you walk around you can see the chefs preparing your meal! Once you are seated at your table, your meal is brought to you in similar fashion as a sit-down restaurant. The service at Via Cibo is impressive as the food is brought out within minutes. If you are in the mood for a quick bite to eat, this system is a major win!

The restaurant itself has a combination of cushioned booths, regular tables, and also features a long table in the middle with high stools. The decor is quite modern and the vibe is what Via Cibo is aiming for - Italian Street Food. 

Again, photo credit goes to Via Cibo's Instagram. In this picture
you can see the long high table in the middle, and a section of
booths in the background. The paintings/pictures on the walls
are of food and basically just made us more hungry as we
waited for our meals.

Now let's get to the good stuff - what we actually ate.

Luckily there were three stomachs to fill so we could totally justify ordering 4 dishes (eyes bigger than stomach syndrome...). The menu had a variety of items that included all of the Italian staples - pizza, pasta, salads, flat bread sandwiches and paninis. After much consideration we decided to go for the Pollo Al Pesto pizza, Wild Mushroom pizza, Gnocchi and the Insalate Cavolo. Is your mouth watering yet because ours is just writing this! 

Now "00" (double zero) pizza dough has become quite popular all over Calgary and is featured at restaurants including Double Zero, Una Pizza and Wine, Famoso, Without Papers, and Pulcinella (just to name a few). Our experience with this type of pizza at Via Cibo definitely did not disappoint. The pizzas were well done, were not too greasy, and were not too flimsy or burned. The Pollo Al Pesto pizza was pleasantly flavorful and the ingredients complimented each other very well. The pizza had the right amount of pesto sauce and goat cheese and neither ingredient was extremely overbearing. The broccolini was also a nice change-up from just using standard broccoli. 

The Pollo Al Pesto pizza contains locally sourced fresh
chicken, roasted peppers, caramelized onions, tomato,
pesto, broccolini, goat cheese and mozzarella cheese.
On Tuesday's, Sheena is vegetarian, so as you can tell
from this picture, we only got chicken on half the pizza!
Pretty sweet deal for $14 eh?

The Wild Mushroom pizza was a pleasant surprise to us on this visit as it is a limited time featured item. We picked it because we are big fans of truffle oil and had tried a similar pizza at UNA. Truffle oil is one of those ingredients that sometimes takes over the flavor of any dish it is used in. The chefs at Via Cibo though, managed to find a great balance between the truffle oil and the rest of the ingredients. We would probably get this pizza again if it comes back on the menu!  

The Wild Mushroom pizza contains arugula, truffle oil,
grand padano cheese and of course, mushrooms.
The price was in a similar range of the other pizzas ($12-14).

Wow guys... this blog is becoming hard to write as we keep looking at pictures of the food! Up next is probably our favorite - the Gnocchi. Most of us can probably agree that there is no way to mess up gnocchi. It's basically pasta filled with potatoes topped with some sort of pasta sauce. Does it get any more satisfying than that? Since the summer of 2014 we had our eyes on this dish as we saw a photo of it posted by Via Cibo on their Instagram (@viacibo). They had introduced the dish in Ontario prior to bringing it to Alberta. Better late than never right! 

So finally the long awaited day had come to try the gnocchi, and let's just say this - we were not disappointed. The Gorgonzola cream sauce was a good consistency and was layered perfectly over the pasta. The flavor of the pasta was not too creamy as many cream-based sauces can be (this was dangerous for us since we devoured the gnocchi in minutes). 

As told by Via Cibo, the gnocchi is a mouth watering
combination of slow roasted tomatoes, pancetta, and
green onions in a Gorgonzola cream sauce. It was the first
and fastest dish we finished because it was basically amazing.

To get away from all the carbs we thought it would be wise to order a salad. We actually consistently order the Insalata Cavolo on all of our visits to Via Cibo. Maybe next time we will try something new... just maybe. The reason we love this salad so much is because it is so simple yet such a delicious and light addition! The kale is nice and crisp and is evenly coated in a citrus balsamic vinaigrette. The olives are delicious, and along with the onions leave a soft flavor in the kale. The lemon ricotta on the salad is a fantastic addition, even for those who typically don't like ricotta cheese (i.e. Gajra).

The Insalate Cavolo is probably one of our favorite salads.
The olives are amazing but just don't make the mistake
Gajra once did and put an entire one in your mouth only
to crack down on a pit... oops! This delicious salad
is only $9 and can definitely be shared between 2-3 people.

Now since we ordered ALL the food, we sadly never made it to dessert. Dessert options are available at the restaurant itself and also features local gelato famously made by Fiasco Gelato. Next time we hope to actually have some self-control on ordering the main dishes and save some room for dessert!

Overall, this restaurant is a hidden gem in our books. We wish the location was closer to us (i.e. downtown) or generally more central, so we could go more often and also take our friends so they can experience the deliciousness! The prices at Via Cibo are very affordable compared to other pizzerias/Italian restaurants out there and the food is out very quick since it is a "chef driven restaurant without the full service". The GS, Urbanspoon and Tripadvisor ratings are below.

The GS Rating:

Price: 4.5/5

Service: 4.5/5

Taste: 4.5/5

Venue: 4/5

Urbanspoon Rating: 70%

Tripadvisor Rating: # 603/2936 Restaurants in Calgary