about zibibbo italian restaurant

Owner & head chef of Zibibbo, Salvatore Cardinale has been cooking around the world for the last 30 years. His brother-in-law, who continues to run a trattoria in the Ligurian town of Albenga, started him off peeling potatoes at the tender age of 14. Remaining in Italy until his early twenties, Salvatore worked under many experienced and tough executive chefs in restaurants and hotels throughout Liguria and Northern Italy.

By the age of 23 he was head chef at a 200 seat restaurant in England. Seeking warmer weather, he spent a year in Bermuda before settling in the Cayman Islands for 13 years. In partnership with a friend from Calabria, he ran one of the Cayman Island's most successful Italian restaurants. Salvatore has lived in Australia since 2000 and established Zibibbo in September 2007.

The inspiration for the unusual restaurant name come from Salvatore's Sicilian origins. Zibibbo grapes are a Sicilian variety from the muscatel group, used to make fortified dessert wines. You'll find one of the classics on the menu -Passito do Pantelleria is from a small island off Sicily's west coast and a perfect match with one of Salvatore's homemade desserts.