Cibrèo Florence: Fabio Picchi, Venues, One Burger

Cibrèo in Florence is a Tuscan restaurant group, not a burger joint. Chef Fabio Picchi founded it near the Sant’Ambrogio market on 8 September 1979, and he died on 25 February 2022. His son Giulio Picchi runs it today. If you came for a burger, Cibrèo has exactly one: the Pikki Burger with rustic potatoes, priced at €27 on the autumn-winter 2025 dinner menu of Cibrèo Caffè at the Helvetia & Bristol hotel (Via dei Pescioni 8r). None of the Sant’Ambrogio menus lists it.

I started this profile expecting to place Cibrèo somewhere in Florence’s burger scene. I was wrong. Going through its menus, the press and Cibrèo’s own pages on 2 November 2026, I found one burger in the whole group and a kitchen built on giblets, bread soup and stuffed pigeon. Cibrèo is one of the reference tables of Florentine cooking, and this article treats it that way: Fabio Picchi’s story first, then every current venue, then the burger. For burger bars proper, start with our Florence burger page.

Who was Fabio Picchi, the founder of Cibrèo?

Fabio Picchi was the Florentine chef who opened Cibrèo on 8 September 1979 and turned it into a family of restaurants, a café and a theatre around the Sant’Ambrogio market. Cibrèo’s own site says he founded the restaurant at age 24. He died in Florence on 25 February 2022 after a long illness, as La Nazione and gonews reported that day.

The name: what ‘cibrèo’ means

Cibrèo is an old Tuscan dish of chicken giblets, liver and cockscomb cooked with egg. The Picchi family made it for special occasions, and it is said to have been a favourite of Catherine de’ Medici (The Florentine, Meer). Naming your restaurant after offal is a statement. It tells you the kitchen will be thrifty and Florentine to the bone, and won’t apologise for either.

A poultry stall under the 1873 iron roof of the Sant’Ambrogio market in Florence, the neighbourhood market where Fabio Picchi opened Cibrèo, a restaurant named after a Tuscan dish of chicken giblets. (Photo: Txllxt TxllxT, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Firenze\_-\_Florence\_-\_Piazza\_Lorenzo\_Ghiberti\_-\_Il\_Mercato\_di\_Sant%27Ambrogio\_1873\_by\_Giuseppe\_Mengoni\_-\_View\_East.jpg)

From one restaurant to a Sant’Ambrogio empire (1979–2022)

Picchi built Cibrèo street by street. The Cibrèo Caffè opened opposite the restaurant in 1989. In 2003 he founded Teatro del Sale with his wife, the actress Maria Cassi: a members’ club at Via de’ Macci 111r where dinner comes with a show (gonews, La Nazione). La Nazione adds that the couple had four children, three sons and a daughter.

Japan was part of the story too. In the 1980s Picchi ran a restaurant there, and the experience later became Ciblèo, a 20-seat Tuscan-oriental room at Via del Verrocchio 2r described by Dream of Italy in April 2017. He also wrote books, including ‘Firenze, passeggiate fra cibo e laica civiltà’ (2015) and ‘Papale papale. Ricette che salvano l’anima’ (2016).

Cibrèo timeline, Fabio Picchi to Giulio Picchi: 8 September 1979, Cibrèo opens near the Sant’Ambrogio market | 1980s, Picchi runs a restaurant in Japan, later the seed of Ciblèo | 1989, Cibrèo Caffè opens opposite the restaurant | 2003, Teatro del Sale founded with Maria Cassi | 2004, Giulio Picchi starts working in the restaurants | 2015 and 2016, Picchi’s books are published | 2021, Cibrèo Caffè and Cibrèo Ristorante & Cocktail Bar open at the Helvetia & Bristol | 25 February 2022, Fabio Picchi dies in Florence. (Table: Burger Breton, data from cibreo.com, La Nazione, gonews, The Florentine and Dream of Italy (checked 2 November 2026))

Cibrèo today: who runs it after Fabio Picchi?

Cibrèo is still open, and Giulio Picchi, Fabio’s son, leads it as owner and COO of Gruppo Cibrèo. According to his team page on cibreo.com, he started working in the restaurants in 2004. He is also artistic director of Teatro del Sale and owner of Accademia Cibrèo.

Under Giulio, Cibrèo has moved into the centre. In 2021 it opened two venues inside the Helvetia & Bristol Florence – Starhotels Collezione: a café facing Palazzo Strozzi and a restaurant with a cocktail bar. When they launched, Firenze Made in Tuscany named Oscar Severini as head of the culinary concept there. Nobody I could find confirms who runs that kitchen in November 2026, so I name no current head chef.

Cibrèo Florence venues: addresses, hours and prices

Cibrèo has five venues with published hours and menus, in two parts of Florence: three in Sant’Ambrogio and two at the Helvetia & Bristol hotel. Teatro del Sale and Ciblèo complete the group (see below). Every fact in the table comes from cibreo.com, the hotel’s Cibrèo menus and the Michelin Guide, checked on 2 November 2026.

Cibrèo Florence venues compared: address, opening hours, prices in euros and whether a burger is on the menu, for Cibrèo Ristorante, Trattoria Cibrèo, Cibrèo Caffè Sant’Ambrogio, Cibrèo Caffè Helvetia & Bristol and Cibrèo Ristorante & Cocktail Bar (checked 2 November 2026). (Table: Burger Breton, data from cibreo.com, the Cibrèo Caffè Helvetia & Bristol autumn-winter 2025 menus and the Michelin Guide (checked 2 November 2026))

Planning an August trip? Check the calendar first. Cibrèo Ristorante skips lunch from 1 July to 5 August and from 14 to 31 August, and closes entirely from 6 to 13 August. The Helvetia & Bristol restaurant closes from 8 to 17 August.

Map of the Cibrèo venues in Florence: the marker shows the Sant’Ambrogio cluster (Ristorante at Via Andrea del Verrocchio 8r, Caffè at 5r, Trattoria at Via de’ Macci 122r); the Helvetia & Bristol venues on Via dei Pescioni and Via dei Vecchietti lie about 1.2 km west, near Palazzo Strozzi. (Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0, https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright)

Cibrèo Ristorante: the original in Sant’Ambrogio

Cibrèo Ristorante is the 1979 dining room: the most formal table in the group and, of the venues that publish prices, the most expensive. The Michelin Guide lists it for classic Tuscan cuisine at the €€€ price level and cites pork liver with lemon, tortellini timbale, stuffed squab and rabbit roll with sweet-and-sour onions. Cibrèo’s own menu puts forward pigeon stuffed with mostarda and the cheese tart with bitter-orange marmalade (€12).

Trattoria Cibrèo (il Cibreino): the cheaper option

Trattoria Cibrèo, nicknamed il Cibreino, cooks from the same Florentine repertoire at roughly half the restaurant’s prices. Think chicken liver pâté, lasagna, lampredotto and pappa al pomodoro, with mains at €15–25. Rick Steves called it his ‘new favorite restaurant in Florence’ (Islands.com). On a budget and only one Cibrèo meal? Book this one. You get the same kitchen culture for €15–25 a main, against €36–50 across the street.

Pappa al pomodoro, the Florentine tomato and bread soup, served at Cibrèo’s Teatro del Sale; the same dish is on the Trattoria Cibrèo menu (photographed in October 2013). (Photo: judywitts, CC BY 2.0, https://www.flickr.com/photos/40687317@N00/10122886294)

Cibrèo Caffè: the 1989 café

The original Cibrèo Caffè sits across the street from the restaurant and has served Sant’Ambrogio since 1989. It runs from 8:00 to midnight. The tagliolini cacio e burro (€20) and the cheese tart (€12) are on the menu. A burger is not.

Teatro del Sale and Ciblèo

Teatro del Sale (Via de’ Macci 111r) and Ciblèo (Via del Verrocchio 2r) both still appear on cibreo.com. I could not verify their current hours, membership fees or prices: the latest published figures date from 2017, and the Teatro del Sale page on cibreo.com returned an error. Contact Cibrèo directly before planning an evening at either.

Guests gather outside Teatro del Sale on Via de’ Macci, the members’ dinner-and-theatre club Fabio Picchi founded with Maria Cassi in 2003 (photographed in July 2009). (Photo: Gail (thepinkpeppercorn), CC BY 2.0, https://www.flickr.com/photos/33904751@N04/3840834019)

The Pikki Burger at Cibrèo Caffè Helvetia & Bristol

The Pikki Burger is the only burger in the whole Cibrèo group, served at Cibrèo Caffè Helvetia & Bristol, Via dei Pescioni 8r. On the menu it is ‘Pikki Burger con Patate Rustiche del Cibrèo’, translated as ‘Cibrèo Burger with Country Fried Potatoes’, and it sits under main courses with side dishes.

The Helvetia & Bristol hotel at the corner of Via degli Strozzi and Via dei Pescioni in central Florence, home since 2021 of Cibrèo Caffè Helvetia & Bristol, where the Pikki Burger is served (photographed in April 2021). (Photo: Sailko, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Via\_degli\_Strozzi\_angolo\_via\_dei\_pescioni\_2,\_palazzo\_dell%27hotel\_helvetia\_%26\_bristol,\_01.jpg)

Price and allergens

The autumn-winter 2025 dinner menu prices the Pikki Burger at €27, plus a €3.50 cover charge per person. The café’s web page may now list it at €30, but I could not confirm that figure, so €27 is the last confirmed price; expect it to have gone up. The menu declares gluten, milk, mustard, sesame and sulphites.

How much a meal at Cibrèo costs: the €90 tasting menu and €36–50 mains at Cibrèo Ristorante, against €15–25 mains at the Trattoria, the €27 Pikki Burger and the €20 tagliolini cacio e burro (prices checked 2 November 2026; €3.50 cover extra at the Helvetia & Bristol café). (Chart: Burger Breton, CC BY 4.0, data from cibreo.com and the Cibrèo Caffè Helvetia & Bristol autumn-winter 2025 dinner menu, checked 2 November 2026)

What is in it

Cibrèo’s own menu names only the burger and its potatoes. Firenze Made in Tuscany, in its best hamburgers in Florence list of 20 October 2026, gives more detail: an organic beef patty with lemon mayonnaise and ‘Ikkeciappe’, a pepper-based ketchup alternative, with twice-fried rustic potatoes. It calls the dish ‘a real cult favorite for fans of Fabio Picchi’s creations’. That is a single source, Cibrèo has not confirmed it, and no beef breed is given anywhere.

The menu does make one sourcing promise: meat from ‘non-intensive, certified organic farms’ and vegetables from the Orto Bioattivo di Bellosguardo, about 3 km from the historic centre.

Did Fabio Picchi create the Pikki Burger?

No source says who created the Pikki Burger or when it joined the menu. The name sounds like a nod to Picchi, but I found nothing saying he invented it. It appears only on the Helvetia & Bristol menus, and those venues opened in 2021.

Is the Pikki Burger worth the trip?

Only if you are already near Palazzo Strozzi and want something familiar with Cibrèo’s organic sourcing behind it. I would not cross town for it. At €27 before the cover charge, it costs more than a Trattoria main, and the Trattoria is where Cibrèo’s real cooking is. For a plain burger, our Five Guys Florence guide covers the branch inside Santa Maria Novella station, about ten minutes on foot from the hotel.

What else to order at Cibrèo

Cibrèo is known for offal, game birds and plain, butter-and-cheese pasta. Four dishes come up again and again across its menus and the Michelin listing: stuffed pigeon, pork liver with lemon, the cheese tart with bitter-orange marmalade and tagliolini cacio e burro. Cibrèo’s Helvetia & Bristol menu claims the tagliolini made The New York Times’ list of 25 best Italian pasta dishes in 2024. I have not found that list in the Times myself.

The Helvetia & Bristol café also lists a 40-day dry-aged ‘Braciola taglio bistecca’ with mash (€40), a €60 gastronomic menu and a Bloody Picchi cocktail (€20). Its Cibrèo Beer, designed by master brewer Antonio Massa with Fabio Picchi, comes as Bianca di Firenze or Pale Ale Toscana at €8 per 33 cl bottle.

How I built this profile

This is a profile, not a rated review, so there is no score. Every price, address and opening hour comes from cibreo.com, the Helvetia & Bristol Cibrèo menus (autumn-winter 2025) and the Michelin Guide, checked on 2 November 2026. Biographical facts come from the 2022 obituaries in La Nazione, gonews and The Florentine. Where a fact rests on a single or unconfirmed source, the text says so. For how other chef-led Italian venues handle the burger, see my profile of Ciro Salvo, 50 Kalò and the 50 Panino burger bar in Naples and our best burgers in Milan. All our city guides are on the Restaurants hub.

Cibrèo Florence FAQ

Who was Fabio Picchi? Fabio Picchi was the Florentine chef who founded Cibrèo on 8 September 1979 near the Sant’Ambrogio market. He also founded Teatro del Sale in 2003 with his wife, Maria Cassi. He died on 25 February 2022.

Is Cibrèo still open after Fabio Picchi’s death? Yes. Cibrèo is open and run by his son Giulio Picchi, owner and COO of Gruppo Cibrèo, who has worked in the restaurants since 2004.

What is the difference between Cibrèo Ristorante, the Trattoria and the Caffè? Cibrèo Ristorante is the original, most formal room with a €90 tasting menu. Trattoria Cibrèo (il Cibreino) is the cheaper, simpler version with mains at €15–25. Cibrèo Caffè is the all-day café. Teatro del Sale is a members’ club that pairs dinner with theatre.

Does Cibrèo serve a burger? Only one: the Pikki Burger with rustic potatoes, at Cibrèo Caffè Helvetia & Bristol, Via dei Pescioni 8r. It cost €27 on the autumn-winter 2025 dinner menu. None of the Sant’Ambrogio venues serves a burger.

How much does a meal at Cibrèo cost? At Cibrèo Ristorante, the six-course tasting menu costs €90, and mains run €36–50. At the Trattoria, mains cost €15–25. At Cibrèo Caffè Helvetia & Bristol, add a €3.50 cover charge per person. Prices checked on 2 November 2026.

How do I book a table at Cibrèo? Book by phone on +39 055 234 1100 or by email at booking@cibreo.com, the contacts given by Cibrèo and the Michelin Guide. The Helvetia & Bristol menus print another number, +39 055 266 5610, which I could not verify.

Where is Cibrèo in Florence? The original Cibrèo Ristorante is at Via Andrea del Verrocchio 8r in Sant’Ambrogio, with the Trattoria at Via de’ Macci 122r and the Caffè at Via Andrea del Verrocchio 5r. The two newer venues are in the centre, inside the Helvetia & Bristol hotel near Palazzo Strozzi.

Does Cibrèo have a Michelin star? No. Cibrèo is listed in the Michelin Guide for classic Tuscan cuisine at the €€€ price level, but it holds no star.

What does ‘cibrèo’ mean? Cibrèo is a Tuscan dish of chicken giblets, liver and cockscomb cooked with egg, a Picchi family dish for special occasions.