Cibo Matto in Mansfield Bringing Italian Tradition

Cibo Matto’s Peter Kuplas has been in the restaurant business for over a quarter of a century and he’s brought his experience to Mansfield.

Kuplas said he started working in a pizza shop in South Carolina. Originally, he said he went to school studying aviation science

“As I was finishing school, I was cooking in the early 90s  and I seemed to be good at it and it was very enjoyable,” he said. “I love the fast pace.”

Kuplas said that his grandmother growing up gave his love of food. Both his mother and grandmother were 100 percent Italian.

“Italian food is very second nature to me,” he said. “When you’re a kid and you’re exposed to good food, you understand what good food is.”

Kuplas said that freshness was always important to him in the business, as his uncle had a farm that his family got most of their food from.

“Green beans in a can, I could never understand that,” he said. “I’ve always tried to find the freshest stuff. Frozen food, I understand that but I’d much prefer to have fresh products.”

He added that his recipes are very important to him and he will not get premade sauces or products.

“Everything here is made in house except for the ketchup and the mustard,” he said.

Kuplas said that he gets his ingredients from area farms, and he said he tries to get 100 percent organically grown vegetables and meats. He said he usually buys from the Langwater Family Farm in Easton.

“We try to go all natural and organic,” he said. “Prior to having a restaurant, I would always go there and do the shopping for the house.”

While Kuplas said that he does get strange food requests from his customers, but he said that sticking to the old favorites, like chicken parmesan, lasagna, pasta, are usually what most people order.

“Ten-percent of the population likes creative food,” he said. “For that we do daily specials. We do a safe menu so there’s something here for everybody. But if you want something that’s not on the menu, if we can make, it we will.”