(Last UPDATED 2/27/2021) After 33 years Biba’s Ristorante Italiano has announced its closure effective May 9, 2020. Limited to take-out during the COVID-19 pandemic, the iconic fine-dining establishment was unable to make ends meet. NEW: See Update below.
Original Post
Description and review of dinner at Biba, an iconic (and excellent) fine-dining Italian restaurant located in Midtown Sacramento.
A friend and I recently enjoyed dinner at Biba. It was a Saturday night, and we were looking forward to seeing Dry Powder at the nearby B Street Theatre at the Sofia.
As we entered we scanned the front room – the bar was full as were most of the tables. We did not have reservations that evening, but we were lucky – we were immediately shown to a small table for two.
As I have always found to be the case – the staff and food at Biba is exceptional. Our waiter that evening was Jorge, who had also served our party of four earlier this year during Dine Downtown Week in January.
See related post: Biba Ristorante Italiano – Sacramento Restaurants
My friend decided to start with a “dirty” martini ($11) and I settled on a glass of Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc ($10). We had plenty of time so we explained to Jorge that we wanted to finish our drinks prior to ordering our meal.
SacramentoRevealed.com – All Things Sacramento (from a personal perspective)
Menu/Service Review
We had been planning to order a couple of “small plates”, but after looking over the menu we decided to share a salad and a pasta dish.
The Roasted Beet & Arugula Salad (multi-colored roasted beets, whipped avocado, champagne vinaigrette, olive oil and roasted almonds) ($12) was delish! Biba staff had plated one-half of the salad ordered for each of us.
I personally don’t mind when a restaurant serves you a dish you plan to share and brings you two plates so you can help yourself – but Biba staff always does things with class.
Soon after finishing the salad our main course arrived – Tagiatelle ai Primaverile (house-made saffron Tagliatelle, green asparagus, spring garlic, fava beans, mascarpone cream and preserved lemon) ($17). The Tagliatelle ai Primaverile was exceptional. Each bite had a hint on lemon flavor which went extremely well with the other ingredients. We both enjoyed every bite and were equally happy that we had shared the dish as it was very rich.
We finished off dinner sharing a slice of Lemon Cheesecake ($10.50) – a fitting end to a great meal.
With the opening of the new B Street Theatre at the Sofia on Capitol Avenue I expect that I will be visiting Biba more frequently.
See related blog post: Annual Sacramento Restaurant Review Recap (2018)
Updates
(2/27/2021) Former Biba employee June Chang has announced that he is going into the restaurant business. Mattone Ristorante will be staffed by a number of former Biba employees, including Biba’s former Executive Chef and Pasta Chef. The new restaurant will open in April, 2021, at the location of the former Espanol Italian Restaurant in East Sacramento. The cuisine will be both new and old Italian.
(8/30/19) Biba Caggiano passed away on August 29, 2019 at the age of 82. Click link to Biba Ristorante Italiano blog post (above) for additional details. See Sacramento Bee Biba Caggiano obituary for more about Biba.
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