CIBO Urban Pizzeria

While walking around downtown Phoenix after seven o’clock, you might feel like you’re walking around in a ghost town.  It might take a close look but you are sure to find something to do or somewhere great to eat.  If you find yourself strolling west down Filamore, you will likely stumble upon a center of activities at 5^th  Avenue.  Here you might think it’s a house having a dinner party outside but it’s actually a restaurant. CIBO Italian.  CIBO Italian is one of the few restaurants that attract people to come downtown.   The converted 1913 bungalow is the dream child of Tony and Karen Martingiglio. The atmosphere is ambient, the food is delicious, and service is top notch.

Walking up to the front door of this converted home, the customers are greeted by one or both of the owners with a huge smile of gratitude, that you have come to dine with them for the evening.   If you have to wait, the food is well worth the wait. There are several seating options outside while waiting for your table either inside or outside. My personal favorite is around the fire pit. When they come to seat you they give you the option to sit inside or out.   Both are great options. The weather in Phoenix is usually perfect for outside dining on their patio garden.  The trees are lighted, soft music is playing and you might even get to catch a sunset or dine under the stars. If you prefer sitting inside, you are also in for a real treat. Each room in the converted house has its own unique atmosphere. The lights are low, and candles grace each table. Each table is different and unique like a family kitchen set.  CIBO ‘s dining options are great for a Friday night out with friends, a date for you and someone special or business clients.

Now that you are seated in a great atmosphere, by candlelight, the hard part then begins of what to choose to eat! This is one place that even though the menu is small; you will have an extremely difficult time trying to decide what to eat.  The  four-course meal is a must at CIBO.   So make sure to save room for desert. Starting off dinner with an appetizer maybe difficult, because its hard to choose just one! The ll Tagiere is my personal favorite, with a wide selection of meats and cheese to choose from, it is perfect for larger groups and easy to share. If you are on a date, the bruschetta is a great option and is some of the best I have ever tasted. Now that your taste buds are eager for more, the salad is a great way to cleanse your palate for the main course. CIBO has a range of salads from a basic house style to gourmet with different types of greens, fruits, nuts, and olives. The Omero salad containing organic mixed greens topped with imported goat cheese, cucumbers, onions, caramelized walnuts and sliced strawberries, tossed with balsamic vinaigrette, has always been very popular with my friends and family that have joined me in dining at CIBO. For the main course there are two different main options, white or red pizza. The red pizza consists of a marinara base, while the white pizza is an alfredo base. The various pizzas are all toped with exquisite toppings including some of the finest meats, cheeses and vegetables. The Salsiccia which consists of tomato sauce, sausage and mozzarella is probably my favorite meal in downtown Phoenix. When I am in the mood for white pizza I love to get the Pomodoro Fresco made with just a few ingredients, mozzarella, grape tomatoes and fresh basil.  The Pomodoro Fresco is so light, simple and refreshing with the fresh basil on top.  If you find yourself venturing down to CIBO on a Tuesday or Wednesday, I would suggest trying one of their pasta dishes. Chef Saccone plans a different pasta dish each of those nights, and they are delicious. They vary from week to week, so be sure to check out their tweets @CiboPizzeria or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ciboPizzeria for their daily specials.  After dining on some of best Italian food in the Phoenix area, be sure to have saved room to try some crapes for dessert. They are light and flavorful. The favorites among my friends are the nutella and banana crepes. They come out super quick and are the perfect ending to the perfect CIBO meal.

The atmosphere is perfect, the food is tasty, but the service at CIBO is what makes the dining experience unique. After being greeted by the owning couple, water glasses are quickly filled right before your eyes by one of the co-servers. After a few moments, the main waiter greets you to take your order. Each person greets you with a smile and a friendly presence. They offer insight into the many items on the menu that you may not have ever thought of trying. Your beverage glass is never empty due to their attention to detail and service. The team approach of the wait staff is key to this superb dining experience.

All of the hard work of the CIBO staff has not gone unnoticed by food critics and customers alike. The atmosphere of CIBO has helped them win several awards including Best Of 2008: Best Place to Make Yourself at Home in the Best of Phoenix newspaper. For years, CIBO has won best pizza for the Phoenix area due to the fact that they continue to use the freshest ingredients possible. The quaint and elegant setting has allowed CIBO to claim the award for Best First Date for several years. After wining numerous awards, the desire to enjoy CIBO has increased everyday as the word spreads. With this desire the owners have decided to expand the restaurant to include another dining room, hoping to alleviate some wait time. The future is bright for CIBO Urban Pizzeria, with new items, new customers always coming. So when you’re in downtown Phoenix looking for some great Italian food, go to CIBO and you won’t be disappointed.

 References

Cibo urban pizzeria. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.cibophoenix.com/ 

Its Game Time in Sun Devil Stadium

This post is a few days late, but hey, it was a long weekend. Now that we're getting back on track, this week has been by far the most exciting week since I've been here. There was a constant buzz leading up to kick-off on Thursday, along with the excitement of the long weekend.

I am starting to love Mondays more than any other weekday. I have one class on Monday, JMC 110- Principals and History of Journalism, and it dose not start till two o'clock. Not only are  Monday's a great day to recoup from busy weekends but I also get a lot of work done before class. Dean Callahan continued his lecture in class, which was really intriguing. The way he speaks in class make you want to pay attention and stay engaged. Class is not even the best part of Mondays, it's definitely Must See Monday's, the Cronkite Speaker Series. This week we had five guest speakers, all of the female anchors from the five different news networks found throughout The Valley (Phoenix Metropolitan Area). It was so neat to sit and listen to the advice and wisdom of these five women who have been so successful here in such a large news market. It has been one of the most interesting nights since I have been here at the Cronkite School.

(Michael, Lin Sue Cooney- NBC Channel 12, Myself, and Ashley)

Tuesdays are the usual grind of Politics and Government then English. Today we started a new movie in English class, Botany of Desire, to inspire us for our food profile essay. It was a really neat documentary on how we have evolved along with our food. Late night homework usually works for me but I have learned not to put Journalism textbook reading off until the night before. Ashley, Danny, Katrina, Tahlia and myself all decide to read the chapter together, pop corn reading. It went really well, but the chapter was  40 pages, with only one picture! I know that we're journalism students, we love to read and write, but where are our visual aides! We toughed it out and got it done. After the reading marathon I had to help get Brooke ready for rush. She wanted to wear something but it was pretty wrinkled, so we decided to borrow Cody's steamer, which was a bad idea! None of us knew how to use it, and it came with no instructions. A few times of trial and error, we figured it out, but poor Cody burned himself so I doubt he will be using the steamer again, especially at 2 AM.

I think part of the college experience is trying new things, checking different organizations out to meet new people. Wednesday was a big day for guys at ASU, it was the start of Rush with walk around, were  you could meet each of the Fraternities that have chapters at ASU. I was originally going to put off rushing until next semester, but I figured I would at least check it out. Right away I knew who I was interested in rushing after talking to the guys from different fraternities, and liked 3 of them. Coming from the South, fraternity life is way different on the West coast than back at home. That night I went to one fraternity's first event of the two-week rush period. They are some pretty cool guys and I could see myself fitting in really well with them. When I got back downtown later my group of friends were heading out! Now I officially know that I am in college, I can go out late on a week night without having to ask my parents. It was fun to  get dressed up and see all of my friends dressed up. Wednesday was a whole college experience night, after coming back from going out with my friends, I just so happened to walk in on my roommate. This was a great learning experience because it allowed us to set up some rules and some guidelines for the room that will come in handy over the next few months.

Finally the day we had all been waiting for... GAMEDAY! It was time for Sun Devil football. I knew that the day was going to be awesome when I woke to check my e-mail and my professor had canceled my afternoon class. That meant that only POS 110 separated me and Tempe for the game. Im not going to lie it was pretty hard to concentrate in class when my mind was on the game. When class was over I grabbed Brooke and headed for the shuttle. Tempe here we come! Since Brooke and I are ASU spirit captains we had to help distribute wristbands for season ticket holders for seat assignments.

(Brooke and I ready to start wrist banding)

 It was an experience, that's for sure. The best part of the day was yet to come, being a spirit captain allowed me an awesome opportunity, on-field access prior to the game and for the run-on. This was the most amazing ASU experience yet. Just to hear the pandemonium and see the awesome student section from the field was really neat. Creating the spirit tunnel for the team to run through was awesome too. 

(Brooke, Spark, Myself, and Andrea on the field before kick-off)

(I'm somewhere out on the field- Photo Credit- Cody Larkin)

I think I finally was reminded of the humidity back home standing in the student section. The heat out side was making everyone sweat and made the whole section so humid. The student section is so loud and wild. I'm so glad that I came to ASU, a place with a great student section (also known as The Inferno) and a pretty good football team. I was a little surprised that the stadium wasn't full but then I had to remind myself of a few things: 1) It was a Thursday night, 2) We were playing UC Davis. The game was a blow out with a final score of 48-14.

(Our team! Go Devils)

 I think we have a really good chance of winning at least the Pac-12 South if not the whole conference. The game made me exhausted and super hungry, after a long gold packed light rail ride back to Taylor Place it was time to order Dominos. I love coupons! We got a free order of lava cakes with our pizza order. Yes, I did eat a whole medium pizza. When I was through stuffing my face with the typical college food I realized that I had class at 9:30, so I hustled to be to at least get a few hours of rest before my news directing career began the next morning.

Bright and early was greeted by the my classy old school alarm clock. Rolling out of bed I grabbed a quick shower and was off to the studio. Luckily I was assigned to the second show that our class would do, so I had a chance to learn the ropes before going on air. After only stopping 3 times for small errors in the first show they finally got the complete thing done pretty quick. Finally it was my turn to take the seat and put on the head set of the director. My heart started pounding as I counted down 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1 and we were on the air. Our show only had to stop and start a few times on the first run. The second time we were better but by the fourth and fifth time we did the show it was flawless. Our professor was so impressed with our class. He told us hasn't seen a first week of that class go so well before. Being a director is a tough job so I think I deserved to take a nap. 

(Myself getting ready to go live in the Cronkite Studio)

Waking up refreshed it was time to head to Tempe for another rush event. This time I tried my hand at the batting cages, and lets just say I'll stick to lacrosse. I was better at the softball machine than the baseball one but I still hit a few. When we left the event Wilson and myself were really craving mexican food, so off to Macayos we go! They always give you WAY to much food there but it is so good. Not wanting to go back out we decided to head to Taylor Place to watch the Emperors New Groove. After a few minutes we decided that we wanted to watch old Nickelodeon shows. I think I fell asleep before we were done, but hey I was comfortable!

I love sleeping in on Saturday mornings now! I also have a really good excuse too, the dining hall does not even open until 10 AM on the weekends. No Saturday is complete without a good breakfast. Now if there is any meal that the dining hall does right, it's breakfast. They have the full assortment. Off to Tempe once again for another rush event, this time it was a pool party. It was pretty chill, we were playing pool basketball and the team that I was on won, so that was pretty exciting. It was a great time talking to the guys, hanging out and eating some good food from the grill. Since most of my friends in Taylor Place went home for the long weekend, the out-of-staters decided to go shopping at Fashion Square. I didn't get anything but its always nice to window shop! Who knew that Microsoft had a store, but surprisingly it has a strong resemblance to the Apple store. When we were done shopping it was time for dinner, and we went to one of my favorite places...The Cheesecake Factory. After a yummy salad I had to have room for dessert. This time I went with the Carrot Cake Cheesecake, its the best of both worlds. We headed back to Taylor Place, turned on Netflix and watched Weeds for the rest of the night. Man, I love college.

After a nonstop week all I wanted to do was sleep. I got a chance to catch up on Sunday. I didn't even get my normal Sunday laundry day in. I was really excited I did get to hangout with my good friend Elaine. We grabbed dinner and had a chance to catch up. We came back and did homework until it was time for bed. 

I am starting to love this lifestyle more and more each day. I know its only been three weeks but I am so for the next for years. So many amazing opportunities are coming my way. I just can not wait to see what the future holds.

The Joys of Public Transportation...

What a crazy week this has been in Phoenix. Sandstorms to Professors dressing up like George Washington and everything in between. Waking up Monday I had to hit the ground running. My first JMC 110 (History and Principals of Journalism) class was going to be really interesting. We found out that Associate Dean Barrett was going to be our main instructor for the course, along with Dean Callahan and Professor Gilger. I realized how lucky I am to be in such an amazing program here at Arizona State, since at most Journalism Schools you can not take any Journalism classes until you have all of your general education classes completed. At the Cronkite School we are fully immersed in Journalism from day one. Coming off my Journalism high I decided it was time to hit the gym, and I wanted to try the kickboxing class. That class is a high-speed, fun workout. The day ended with a bang, our first must see Monday. Each Monday the Cronkite School brings in guest speakers to come and share about journalism related topics. This week one of the Professors gave an interesting insight into the Murdoch Scandal and ethics in Journalism. It was so profound, I have never thought about many of the things he discussed. The professor talked about how to be a good journalist and that there has to be an ethical line that can not be crossed for anyone, including celebrities.

Back to the grind Tuesday morning with my Politics and Government class, along with English Class. Brooke and I went to Tempe to run some errands. We decided to try out the intercampus shuttle that runs between our campus and the Tempe campus. This is a much better alternative to the light rail. The shuttle even has wifi! So you can surf the net on the short trip to Tempe. We took care of business and got some Jamba Juice for the trip back. This is where my love/hate relationship with public transportation began. Brooke and I waited patiently to catch the shuttle back downtown for over 20 minutes in the Arizona sun, only to be pushed out of the way and not being able to get on either of the two buses. That being said we then had to make the 15 minute trek to the other side of campus to catch the light rail home, only to see it pull away as we were walking up. When we reached our campus, it was time to head straight to the Cronkite building for club recruitment. I signed up for several organizations including the Society of Professional Journalists.

Finally Wednesday was here! The day I have been looking forward to all week. It was BOW TIE Wednesday, yes I did break out my southern style for the people of ASU. It was an awesome day in JMC 110 because Dean Callahan gave the lecture. He got us all thinking about what makes news and what makes things newsworthy. The reason I was so excited for Wednesday was because it was our first day for MAT 142 (Math for Journalists), because all of my friends are in that class, not to mention Professor Boshes is bomb.com. Once again it was off to Tempe for the evening at the Student Alumni Association BBQ. Brooke, Brittany and I met up with Wilson for a fun night of food and music

What I just realized after blogging all of this, is I have not even shared with you about my room! Its really nice and feeling more and more like home each day. It's still a little bare but its comfortable, and the view is AMAZING.

(This is the view I wake up to every morning. Downtown Phoenix including Chase Field, and the Arizona Republic, along with the beautiful mountains in the background.

(My bed area, the bathroom and closets are to the left)

(My desk area)

(Pillowcases that everyone here loves)

Enough about my room. Thursday was really interesting in class. My professor dressed up for the our Constitutional Convention simulation, he looked just like George Washington. I think I did a pretty good job representing the delegate of Alexander Hamilton. In english class we started to watch this really interesting documentary, entitled "Botany of Desire", to get us thinking about our food profile projects. After class Brooke and I went straight to the gym for a good cardio workout. After showering up it was off to Tempe for Gold Rush, where we learned the Sun Devil ways and got to meet some of the football players after a scrimmage in Sun Devil Stadium.

(Danny, Myself, Brock-ASU Quarterback, Jared, and Russ in Sun Devil Stadium)

(Sun Devil Cheerleaders)

Friday was a wild day, but very interesting. I had my first production class, where we are actually in the studio using real news equipment and making our own newscasts. Lets just say there is so much more that goes into creating a good newscast for the viewers. This class is going to be great for the next 6 weeks. One thing I have definitely learned in college is take advantage of every free thing or every college discount because the savings do add up. We took advantage of one of those discount nights friday at the Diamondbacks Game. ASU students could get in for $5 and there was even fireworks after the game.

(Brooke and I at the All Star Game Cactus)

(Myself, Brooke, Winslow and Brittany enjoying the Dbacks Game)

After the game we headed to Tilted Kilt for dinner with some other friends before heading to Tempe. You know you're an ASU Downtown kid if when it gets near 2 o'clock and you have to leave the party or get together to catch the last light rail home. We had to run just to make sure we made it home to Taylor Place for the night.

Getting off to a late start Saturday was not good. It was a day of public transportation nightmares. We had to take the light rail to Tempe then ride a bus for almost an hour until we got to the shopping center we needed to go to. Then when we got there we got stuck in a Haboob (Arabic for Sandstorm). The blue Tempe Orbit buses are full of creepy people. On the way back Brooke and I met these Sun Devil athletes that were really nice. They were also pretty creeped out by this guy that sat by us. He kept mocking us and saying really weird things that made us uncomfortable. Lets just say I won't be using the blue orbit buses ever again. Finally after reaching the light rail station we got on pretty quick only to find out that the next stop would be that trains last before going out of service, so we had to get off and wait for the next. Just another thing to add to transportation frustrations!  After all of that trouble the night ended well. I went to In and Out for the first time ever and LOVED it! For all you experienced In and Out eaters I did get my burger animal style but forgot to order my fries that way, but there is always next time right? To make the night even better we came home to enjoy a night of talking and cookie baking in the Taylor Place Kitchen.

Sunday was relaxing and stressful at the same time. We took my iMac to the apple store, because it need to see the Apple doctor, optical drive needed to be replaced. Thank goodness for Apple Care!  We stopped at Ikea on the way home and had some fun there too. When we got back to Taylor Place I put in a couple of loads of laundry and hit the books. I'm trying to stay ahead in all of my classes. I posted all of my course deadlines on my wall today for reminders and encouragement.

(All of my class calendars for the semester)

I still love being a Sun Devil and waking up each day to the Arizona heat. I'm so glad I picked ASU. I love everything about the Cronkite School, Taylor Place and ASU. I have amazing friends and awesome professors. What more do you need to be successful in college! Im looking forward to my first game this Thursday in Sun Devil Stadium against UC Davis. GO DEVILS!

Welcome Week

Wow I couldn't believe it I had packed my whole life into six bags and four boxes. I was finally leaving South Carolina and flying out to the wild west of Arizona. I knew it was where I wanted to be and was excited to be coming at the same time but, I was still a bit nervous. Finally landing in Phoenix I realized this was going to be home for at least the next four years. I enjoyed a few days with my parents in Phoenix doing some last minute shopping before I moved into Taylor Place to be a part of Sparky's Welcome Team.

(Cronkite School on the left, Taylor Place on the right)

Moving in went a lot faster than I thought it would. I was so excited to finally start meeting people and get settled in. We had a few hour long meeting that gave us our duties for the Welcome Team. Some other freshman and I went to the Tempe Campus for the freshman takeover dance party at the Memorial Union. It was a pretty fun night, but it was back to Taylor Place for my first night in my Residence Hall (there no longer called dorms). Bright and early we were up moving people into Taylor Place, we could unload a car in less than a minute.

(I was on the news moving someone in)

 I finally got to meet my roommate between my shifts, he seemed like a chill guy and since then I have learned he's pretty awesome. The next day I was really excited for all the Cronkite kids to move in.  Finally the halls of Taylor Place were full with students. Finally I was starting to make so awesome friends, that I knew I would have a blast with for the next four years here at ASU. To welcome all of the new and returning students to Taylor Place, the Residence Hall put on a block party, Taylor Fest.

(Kevin and Myself-Duffle Bag winners)

 It was a really chill event with live music and giveaways! I ended up walking away with a nice Sparky Duffle bag.

The next morning we were all up bright and early for our official welcome into The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication from Dean Callahan. 

(Inside the Cronkite School's First Amendment Forum)

Then we boarded buses to the Main Campus of ASU which is the Tempe Campus for the kick-off to fall welcome. 

(The Bros-Jared, Caleb, Marcus, Myself, and Danny)

All of the freshman that make up each college of Arizona State were in Wells Fargo Arena, excited for their freshman year to begin. We learned the Sun Devil Ways and heard from Dean Crow. It was then our time to do what so many Sun Devils have done before us, Whitewash the "A" on "A" Mountain. The tradition of painting the "A" white symbolizes a new year and new beginning at ASU. It will be painted its Traditional Gold before the first football game against UC Davis.

(Whitewashing the "A")

This was just the beginning of an amazing week of events at ASU. It was then back to Taylor Place before the main event of the week, the Lupe Fiasco and Jason Derulo Welcome Concert. It was totally wild, totally free and we had AMAZING seats. We were on the 5th row. I completely lost my voice at the show. 

The next day I went to Passport ASU which is a campus club fair. Then we had our floor meeting where I found out the official floor count was 42 girls and four guys. We have the best CA (Community Assistant) in all of Taylor Place. Shout out to Daniel Escobedo!

Thursday marked the beginning of my college classes. Politics and Government was pretty nerve racking-sitting in an auditorium with a hundred other people. It was just like high school except in an auditorium. After, I had English 101 with Professor McNeil which was a total 180 from Politics and Government. There were only twenty people in that class. No homework on the first day!

Friday was off to a great start because my class was canceled! I was kinda excited that class was canceled because it allowed me to be Sparky's handler at ASU Prep. Its a charter school run by ASU. It was so cute to see all of the kids run up to and enjoy being with Sparky.

We went out to dinner on Mill and came back to Taylor Place to enjoy the night. After an eventful Friday, the bros and I met up with Winslow and went to Sparky's Carnival at Civic Space Park. And yes I did adorn my face with a batman facepaint.

Sunday I got my butt up and did TONS of laundry. Did you know that our laundry machines text us when our laundry is done!? Yay Taylor Place. First week of college I would call a complete success! I love ASU and being a Sun Devil. I could not have picked a better University for me.

Introduction

I have been wanting to start a blog for a while now and now I have the perfect reason to. My name is Justin McDuffie and I am a freshman here at The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism located at the Downtown Phoenix Campus of Arizona State University. I am from Columbia, South Carolina and graduated from Spring Valley High School. I enjoy traveling, meeting new people, and having a good time whatever I am doing. In the future I hope to become a correspondent for a major news network. I have strong interests in education, politics and healthcare. This year is going to be exciting with all new friends, a whole new state, and one of the largest universities in the county at my finger tips. I am looking forward to an interesting year of all new experiences. Let's see what happens! Go SUN DEVILS! FEAR THE FORK!