About DC Restaurant Openings
A guide to the newest places to eat and drink.
Cielo. 1137 N Highland St., Arlington.
A “heaven and hell”-themed, Latin-inspired supper club is looking to bring a swankier night-out option to Clarendon. Cielo, opening Tuesday, June 16, will serve modern Latin dishes and cocktails, while also being a destination for nightlife.
“Our goal is to provide a space where someone can arrive for dinner and comfortably stay for the whole night,” owner Michael Sina says. “You can dance and have a great time, but you still have a table to return to.”
Executive Chef Daniel Lozano, who previously worked at Seven Reasons restaurant group, draws flavors from Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia, and the Caribbean. Among his signature dishes is a crispy yuca pavé topped with citrus-lime crème fraîche, a delicate yuca chip, and caviar. Seafood highlights include ceviche with tiger shrimp in a spicy amarillo leche de tigre as well as branzino paired with Castelvetrano olives, kiwi chimichurri, and a fresh green salad. On the heartier side is a Morita chili and coffee-rubbed tomahawk steak paired with smoked paprika sea salt, chermoula marinade, and smokey red romesco sauce.
At the bar, overseen by Torrance Swain of 600T, cocktails embrace the bar’s heaven and hell theme. “Internal Conflict” is a smoky, mezcal twist on a dirty martini with manchego stuffed olives, and “Ethereum” is a light and refreshing vodka cocktail topped with a blue spirulina cloud.
As day bleeds into night, the space shifts into nightlife mode with a DJ and live performances. The restaurant and bar will stay open from 5 PM until 2 AM Tuesday through Sundays.
For Sina, this latest venture is a full circle moment. The space formerly belonged to Red Hot and Blue barbecue eatery, where he once worked.
“Now 25 years later, I’ve worked my way up. I’ve worked with multiple restaurants, and over the years, I’ve worked in [the] capacity as manager, server, even sometimes I was a busboy,” Sina says. “So I built up enough reputation and assets to be able to do my own concept.”
With his own spot in Clarendon, he says he hopes to be a part of the “metamorphosis” of the neighborhood.
“Arlington is basically looking for a more sophisticated, immersive experience where you could see something more refined, detailed and more experimental,” Sina says. “So that’s what we wanted to bring, something different to Arlington.”
Jenae Barnes previously reported and fact-checked for Capital B Gary in Indiana, 5280 Magazine in Denver, Forbes in New York and ABC News in Washington, D.C. She is a 2024 Pulitzer Center Reporting Fellow. As a DC-area native, she received her Bachelor’s from George Mason University and Master’s degree from Columbia Journalism School.
