El Cielo

BEST fine dining experience in DC. I dream of the food when I'm not eating it. The service is immaculate. The plating is creative. 100/100 stars.

Fantastic experience, service was above and beyond, from booking and accommodating our changes, to the last course. The food was spectacular. Would definitely recommend. We went on a Wednesday for the short experience and found it to be just right. Slightly more intimate because it wasn't crowded and not too late on a weekend evening.

Beautiful, creative dishes that were very delicious. If given the chance, I would return.

I thought the artistry and thought that went into each dish was great. The food was creatively displayed and really felt like they were telling a story. The experience was very memorable and the food tasted delicious. I would 100% come back if I had another event to celebrate!

This review is long over due. Hubby and I had a date night here and were very excited about it!
We had been to "La Cosecha" (the Latin marketplace next door) a few times but had never realized El Cielo was right next door. La Cosecha has a great Latin vibe and great eats so we were eager to be blown away by El Cielo.

I'm all about first impressions and details-- specially when it comes to high end restaurants or Michelin restaurants, I believe the focus should be on creating an unforgettable experience for all the senses, not just taste.
So upon entering El cielo I was pretty underwhelmed by the aesthetics and ambiance of the place, it looks like every other modern cafe with not much attention to detail, specially for it being a Latin restaurant, they could have done a better job at transporting you to vibrant Colombia with the design. The bathroom looked like it belonged in a "hole in the wall" restaurant, not a Michelin one, so I was highly disappointed.

But that was only the first impression, I was eager to try the food and be blown away...

And unfortunately we weren't. The presentation of the food was the best thing out of everything- they have done a great job at creating beautiful plates.
But for the most part the dishes were forgettable. Nothing was amazing or tasted like something we had never eaten before.
Service was decent.

Overall we had a nice evening.

4 stars for a pretty solid Columbian restaurant experience.

We were looking to grab a nice dinner one evening and (after getting through the website's annoying popup on every page) saw that El Cielo had some availability for the Chef Choice option. I booked us for 9pm (which the restaurant called soon after and moved us back to 8pm), and we soon after headed over to the Union Market location.

We arrived at the venue to find a very nice dining area with tall ceilings, a bar in the back, and generally solid decorating. Per my friend who previously dined at the venue, the ala carte and Chef Choice option are in the front of the restaurant, while the The Experience 20 course option and bathrooms are in the back area of the restaurant.

We took our seats and our waiter came over to take our order. He was generally fairly pleasant and provided us with solid service throughout the night. He handled and/or explained most of the dishes either by himself or with the assistance of the chef or an assistant.

In terms of the dining, we started off with cocktails (which were good) and a spring blossom sorbet, which was a nice start. We then moved on fairly quickly to the truffle bunuelo and tuna, peanut, and yuzu dishes, which were each quite solid. Next, we underwent the "chocotherapy" part of the dining, which essentially involves washing your hands in some chocolate. A little weird, but I guess it was a nice activity to try out.

Soon after finishing our chocotherapy, we received our tree of life, corn broth, and shrimp aji. In terms of the tree of life, which included several dips and an awesome bread style tree, it made for a great snack for all of us to share and admire. in terms of the corn broth and shrimp aji, the former wasn't really that great while the latter was quite tasty and memorable.

The main issue that we ran into for this meal (and thus the reason for the paragraph separation in this review) was timing. It took quite a while for our next dish (the bison) to come out. The bison was served by the chef and was quite good, so we were ok with the wait at that point. We then again waited a pretty long amount of time for the dessert dish (the cholao). However, the dessert was quite good and probably one of my favorite dishes of the meal, so we again were ok with the wait. We then waited about 20-30 more minutes for the final "dish" in the tasting, which were rose petals that essentially were moisturizer for our hands. The check took another 10-15 minutes, making the last 4 courses of the tasting take more than half our 3 and 1/2 hour time at the venue. My guess is that the timing was thrown off due to coordination with The Experience, but other reviews show that this is a problem that the venue really needs to consider fixing.

Overall, El Cielo provided us with a pretty solid meal. The venue, service, and food overcame the timing issue for the most part.

I decided to have El Cielo be my main birthday celebration for the year and I can definitely say that I enjoyed myself tremendously. The venue allowed for an intimate feel while also allowing us all to not feel like the different tables were on top of each other. The service was impeccable (the only hiccup being that they didn't let us know that we would have to tell them how we wanted our bison cooked well in advance). Lastly, the quality and execution of the meal were amazing.

We opted for the twenty course option, which allowed us to sample a variety of bites which were rooted in Colombian flavors. Some of the favorites were the passion fruit toddy (a nice warm and tangy start to the night), the tapioca and fois gras cube (which was crispy and not too rich), the tuna "empanada" (the presentation alone is definitely worth getting this), and the ceviche (tangy, fresh and overall excellent) were my favorite savory items. Although all of the desserts were great, my favorite were the pumpkin and sapto cone and the cholao. Although most of the menu suited my tastes I found some of the flavors to be either very similar or repetitive. A lot of the items had a tangy and fruity quality. I also found the last dessert (the guava tart and tamarind profiterole) to be underwhelming. The flavors were complimentary (but again tangy), but beyond the dry ice element the desert itself seemed very simple for a venue which wowed us so much at the start of the dinner. Overall, I enjoyed myself, however I probably will not be back for more (4/5).

El cielo was a great experience. The tasting menu was an intense and cohesive experience. Every dish was special and the service made it even better. Our server Sebastian was kind, helpful and knowledgeable. The ambiance was perfect, perfect amount of decoration and great music. I really enjoyed every second of it.

Nestled in La Cosecha in NOMA is Elcielo.

The 22 course tasting menu is a beautiful tribute to Colombian Cuisine. Every movement and bite was carefully crafted to tap into all of our senses from scent, taste to touch (wait for the chocolate course )

The food and ambiance transported us to the beautiful beaches of Cartagena and the mysterious corners of the Amazon jungle.

The dishes ranged from intricate qe to whimsical like the Chocola-therapy where we washed our hands with chocolate and sea salt or The Tree of Life, a Yucca bread served fresh from the oven on a wire bonsai tree representing the lung of the world, the Amazon rainforest.

It's no surprise why they've earned that Michelin star but you'll have to go visit to check out the rest of the surprises they've got in store.

*| Our Menu |*

Aguardiente
& Passion Fruit Toddy
Spring Blossom Sorbet
Truffle Buñuelo
Tapioca & Foie
Tuna, Peanut & Yuzu
Guajira's Dry Shrimp Rice
Carimañola
Chocotherapy
Tree Of Life
Corn Broth
Shima Aji, Lulo & Quinoa
Lobster, Corn & Lemongrass Quail, Wild Onion & Rice Bison "Al Trapo" Mango Cone Cholao
Tamarind Profiterole
Guava & Amaretto Tart
Coffee Field
Rose Petals

I'm still in awe at how amazing this dinner was! Came here for Valentine's dinner, and the amount of detail in everything - from the moment you walk in to the food and service - was phenomenal! The tasting menu we had was called "The journey", and rightfully was a culinary journey the entire way through. We decided to do the drink pairing with dinner and have no regrets doing so; I don't drink often anymore and have a pretty low tolerance to the burn of alcohol but even I found 2 wines I loved.
This dinner was a sensory journey, I don't want to spoil anything but I will tell you the dinner is very interactive with the food in ways you don't expect. I loved learning about Columbia's history and how it's expressed through their food, and I was delighted to taste fruits I've never had together like Yuzu and lemon in their sorbet. This dinner was so good I've decided to learn how to make Colombian food at home, and I can't say enough great things about ALL the staff. Every person we interacted with was wonderful, our server was very knowledgeable about each plate, and the sommelier was kind enough to answer any questions we had about the wines. This is a great place to go to for a date night or any special occasion, I look forward to coming back!

Came here on a Saturday night for dinner. We participated in the 20-course dining experience. The restaurant space is utilized effectively and not overly large or small. Service was top notch throughout the entire 2.5 hour dinner. Cocktails were diverse and flavorful with an extensive wine list as well.

The progression through the 20 courses is thoughtful and well planned. There aren't too many heavy, starchy dishes stacked side by side. There are lighter meals placed next to heavier ones to help you progress through the experience. The ceviche and the truffle were probably our favorites. Overall a wonderful experience and we will definitely return.