When the Bad Bunny track gets your head bobbing and the video walls flood your vision with vacation scenes blurring the line between fantasy and reality, that’s when Cielo is at its most intoxicating.
Located in the heart of Clarendon, this otherworldly nightlife spot presents a new option for living it up from dinnertime into the wee hours. The vibrant decor gives a very South Beach vibe, and the built-in DJ setup is a dead giveaway that weekends offer a nonstop buffet of mad beats. LED displays immerse guests in images of the tropics before morphing into a barrage of hypnotic color bursts and clouds. (Cielo means “sky” or “heaven.”) Add in the bejeweled chandeliers and coral banquettes and you’ve got quite the scene.
These and other aesthetic choices—including a sultry satellite bar with a more devilish bent—are most likely attributable to owner Michael Sina, a veteran of downtown D.C. nightclub Lima Twist.
Though the cuisine is billed as Latin American, Cielo’s flavors venture below the equator and beyond, drawing on chef Daniel Lozano’s experience cooking for Venezuelan-centric Seven Reasons Group in D.C., New York’s ritzy Fireman Hospitality Group and Northern Virginia’s Villagio Hospitality Group. Here, his playful menu travels from South America to central Europe, folding in accents from Asia and the Middle East.
I expected a tuna tostada laced with Peruvian chili sauce, salsa matcha, fresh watermelon and Chinese yuzu to be insanely busy, but the execution was flawless. Every bite dazzled, from the crunchy plantain shell and raw fish bathed in leche de tigre, to the citrusy yuzu aioli and vinegary pickled vegetables.
The chef’s signature short rib, seasoned with Caribbean flavors and slow-cooked to fall-apart tenderness, pulls triple duty. In its appetizer form, the beef is tucked into a blue corn arepa, accented with queso fresco, pickled onions and radish, and served with a robust house-made salsa blending Costa Rican coffee and smoky, dried jalapenos.
The same short rib stars in an addictive-as-hell late night bar snack that layers it over french fries with melted mozzarella and fiery aji amarillo. As an entrée, it’s accompanied by fried yucca croquettes with more of that coffee-infused hot pepper action.
Vegetarians will find heaven in a bowl of spaghetti tossed with poblano cream and crowned with house-smoked ricotta and tendrils of shaved carrot. This comforting dish is as smoky-sweet as a smoldering campfire.
Not everything was rapturous. Lozano’s pao de queso (Brazilian cheese bread) failed to deliver on its promise of a “crisp exterior” and “warm, cheesy center.” The bites that arrived at our table were heavier and colder than others I’ve tried, and the dense dough had the consistency of a day-old cupcake.
Another misfire was the bomba rice accompanying the chef’s pan roasted chicken. The rice was soupy, bordering on oily, and over-seasoned. Hard as its flecks of pineapple and crispy fried spinach tried to work their magic, they were no match for the salty grains.
The dessert temptations at Cielo include a fruit-studded pina colada mousse and the “Fallen Coconut,” a chocolate-covered, coconut cream-filled confection with mango and lemon. I was partial to a sumptuous chocolate mole tart that sadly has already left the menu. Picture a brownie infused with hints of cinnamon and spice, topped with coffee mousse and cloaked in bittersweet ganache. I’m still buzzing from it and praying for its return.
What to Drink
The bar program designed by Torrence Swain (he’s a managing partner at the D.C. cocktail den 600 T in Shaw) embraces the whole saints-and-sinners theme with a roster of signature cocktails ($19 to $23) invoking the imagined flavors of heaven, hell and purgatory. I enjoyed the balancing act of Intrusive Thoughts, a zesty-sweet combo of rum, fresh ginger and blackberries that played tug of war with my taste buds. Four non-alcoholic coolers are $18 each.
The assorted wines by the glass ($13 to $45) include French sparklers, Spanish whites and spicy South American reds. The Spanish Mar de Vinas Albarino proved delightfully crisp with a hint of citrus, like bottled sunshine. A fruity Chilean Lapostolle Cuvee Alexandre Carmenere transported me to the countryside, displaying some pastoral funk on the nose (think fresh cut hay) with a textbook dry finish.
Beer drinkers will find a handful of familiar suds, including Pacifico and Modelo Negra, for $9 each.
Weekday happy hours from 4 to 6 p.m. feature discounted beers ($7), house wines by the glass ($10), rail drinks ($11) and a sampling of specialty cocktails ($14). On Friday and Saturday nights, a “reverse happy hour” from 10 p.m. to closing ushers in nine discounted bar snacks ($7 to $19).
Cielo is located at 1137 N. Highland St., Arlington, 571-728-2444.
Hours
Tuesday through Sunday: 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. (plus weekend brunch service from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.)
Closed Mondays
Parking
The restaurant is located just steps from the Clarendon Metro station. Metered parking is available on many of the surrounding streets.
Prices
Appetizers: $12 to $32
Entrees: $24 to $60 (a coffee-rubbed tomahawk steak for two goes for $162)
Desserts: $12 to $24
