Cibus Latin Fusion all started with an idea.
Cibus was born one day looking for Latin food in Stratford, CT. This was sometime after owner Maya Cabrera had moved from NYC with her husband Anibal and her two children Ariel and Andrick.
In the year 2012, the question had come up of whether or not they open a small restaurant if they find an affordable place to rent, which to many may seem like an absurd idea. Well, if you never try, you’ll never know. In July 2013 they were taking their usual route through an intersection when they saw there had been a place that had been put up for rent in the south end, a neglected area, nothing too pretty, or even admired. Seeing potential, Maya excitedly talk to many people about her plan, but most were completely negative because of how the place looked at the time and its location. She keep her head up, ignored certain comments, and continued with her idea. She decided to reach out to the owner of the place, apparently, everything is in order and ready to go. She thought to herself it is a whole lot easier than she had imagined, but of course, at the same time, she was leaving her ignorance aside. Never had she worked in a restaurant, so she was clueless about how it worked or the requirements needed. Still, she signed the rental agreement and planned to open in 3 months. The best part is the name. Hundreds of names and ideas ran through her mind, all common, meaningless, and from there she heard a little voice, “Maa!”. “What, son?”, she replied. “Cibus!” he says. “What is that?” she asked. “It means food in Latin,” he told her. It’s something different her then 12 -year-old son told her. She told him that there’s no need to say more, it’s okay. The days passed, the whole legal process began, a real nightmare, nothing was what it seemed. First inspection (prior to opening), she was told the following. “Nothing useful here you have to start from scratch, this place is too old and needs a renovation including the exhaust system”, “You should look for another site if you really want to invest”, “Nobody will come here, no businesses have worked”, “Many owners have passed”, “This area is dangerous”. Hundreds of comments and suggestions… Deep down she had a feeling that told her that she could continue, even without having the means and exhausting all possible resources.
The only thing she had left was the desire to continue fighting for her dream and to show everyone that when you want something, you can have it. She does not deny the fact that more than one time she was on the verge of dropping everything. Two and a half years have passed of paying rent and doing what she could every day. At the time she worked in NYC and meanwhile she continued with her purpose that she would do it no matter how long it would last, but she was sure she would. Nothing gourmet, thier plan was fresh and home-style food. June 7, 2016, arrived the most anticipated day and one of the most important in her life. The doors to the public opened and only a couple of days before had they prepared a simple menu.
It was not too difficult to think about the recipes of her family. The pernil from her Dad, the flan of hrt sister Olga, the Encebollado of her sister Lourdes, and the rest much easier, the favorite dishes of her children and husband. Of course, she could not miss their delicious empanadas which are a tradition of the whole family. The big day, very nervous, but super happy. They had a great reception, much more than what they anticipated. She met wonderful people who were happy about my success. She worked long weeks, 7 days a week from 13 to 14 hours a day. It was a bit impossible to hire people, there were no means. Today it has been almost three years since they served the public and every day they are more happy and grateful with God, as well as with their customers who are the ones that gave them the opportunity to move forward, approved their place, their little Cibus.
