His surname (pronounced Chee-bay) is of Slovenian origin, although his father"s family is from Friuli, in the north-eastern corner of Italy. He was born in Sydney, grew up in the riverside suburb of Gladesville and attended Newington College (1982–1987).
Cibej is of Italian and Australian descent. In 1988, he commenced studying law at the University of Sydney but without graduating left Australia for Canada. In Canada, Cibej worked in a piazza shop and on his return to Sydney he worked in the kitchen at Tetsuya"s in Rozelle.
In 1999 he went to Italy and ran a restaurant near Florence for two years before working in Rome for six months.
He returned to Australia in 2002 and three years later opened Vini in Surry Hills. His next restaurant was Berta in Alberta Street, Sydney, in a laneway bounded by Elizabeth, Goulburn, Wentworth and Liverpool streets.
In 2010 he opened 121BC, a cantina and enoteca in Sydney before branching out in Hong Kong in 2013. He is a co-owner of Billy Kwong in Potts Point" with chef and restaurateur Kylie Kwong and seismologist and businessman David King.
