elcielo by Juan Manuel Barrientos

I have just left the restaurant. What an amazing experience. Everything from the beautiful ambiance, décor, lightning, to final mucho chocolate was beyond exquisite. Our waiter was Luis, a very professional young man with impeccable service.
We dinned a 10 corse pre fixed menu called «The trip».
The Trip takes you to such an exotic taste and smell that you can’t help it but fall in love.
My ultimate favorite was when they wash our hands with dark chocolate to massage it and then eat it. I was wowed.
The duck was delicious and perfectly cooked, the mahi mahi with rosemary; No words.
The restaurant is located at the heart of Brickell by the bay.
Perfect for a romantic or intimate fine dinning occasion. A must go.

Fui hace unos meses a este restaurant, el ambiente, su decoración y presentación de los platos, muy lindos. Pero lo más importante que es la comida estuvo malísima, una cosa peor que la otra, tenía muchas expectativas de este restaurant pero la verdad me decepciono por completo. En cuanto al chef, jamas lo vi en la cocina, solo caminar y payasear con los amigos que llegaban, eso se ve bastante mal ya que el es al imagen del restaurant. Sin mas qué decir malísimo y caro.

Will try to be objective in this review. We made reservations for my father-​in-​laws birthday and were a party of 4 adults and one child (7y/​o). The wait staff was attentive, ambiance more Key West like than Colombian. My wife is Colombian and we have an apartment in Bogota so we travel often there and have eaten at some of the higher end places in the city. Knowing the culture and cuisine fairly well it was difficult for us to put together what this restaurant was trying to portray. There are basically two price fixed dinner options (one for $ 85 p/​p and one for $ 125 p/​p) The courses are set so you just sit back and enjoy the ride! The first «course» had the waiter bring a pitcher of warm chocolate syrup to «wash» your hands with. I wasn’t thrilled with the idea but my 7 y/​o daughter loved it! OK so back to my apartment in Bogota… We’ve been living there on and off for the past 12 years and I can say I don’t know ANYBODY there who washes their hands with chocolate. Maybe dirty water (in some of the more rural areas) but not chocolate! Then came this plate that for better words I’ll call an appetizer in which I had to pull out my scanning electron microscope to see. Not sure what it was but it had some foam and a piece of dried starfruit sticking out of it. The we waited for our next course… and we waited and waited. I could actually feel my beard growing. When it finally arrived we were like ravenous vultures fighting over the ant sized portions. OK some of you out there may say «wow this cat sounds like a real finicky prick» But in comparison to a place like Shikany’s (who’s WOW factor was off the charts) I didn’t mind paying Michael Shikany’s prices because we talked about the dinner for days after! With this place we forgot about the dinner after we walked out the front door. In the middle of our courses they bring out Colombian breads with sweet butter and a chutney of corn. Umm doesn’t the bread usually come at the beginning???
So $ 660 later I can say I know exactly why this place is called el cielo… it’s because you fill up on air!!!
There are WAY better places in Miami for the food, experience and money!

El nombre le calza a este lugar. Impecable presentación. Sabores contrastantes, impredecibles… Atención excelente. Una experiencia religiosa para todos los sentidos. Aplausos de pie. Vale la pena 100%

Perfect place, unique and different, lovely concept definitely a must in Miami dinning experience

This is a great place of you have lots of time and money to spend on a meal. It is extremely romantic and has 10 – 15 courses depending on your selection from the pre-​fixe menu.
Great ambience and view of the Miami river. It is as cool as any South Beach setting. The crowd there is very attractive. A people watching place.
Many people complain about the restaurants service, but it is appropriate for the experience. And it is definitely an experiential meal. The food is fine and though the portions are small, if you are having 10 courses, how much food do you need to eat before getting full?
The experience itself is unique and if you are with a date that you just have to get to know, this is the place.
So rating: 2 stars for ambience and setting, 2 stars for presentation and general people watch, 2 stars for the great experience, –1 stars for potential grief with staff and less than superstar food or serving size. So 5 stars.

espectacular!!! la mejor experiencia culinaria.
hands down! fue mucho mejor de lo que mi esposo y yo esperabamos. si, es costosa pero vale la pena probarlo. fue una noche magica. no solo la comida sino tambien el servicio fue genial, no recuerdo el nombre pero el mesero un señor argentino (creo por el acento) fue muy muy buena. tambien logro transportarnos no solo a lugares sino a mi niñez. muchas felicidades. exitos

This is a unique experience !! Service is Amazing and the best part of it all is the surprise factor… You never know whats coming!
Hats off to the chef for his creativeness and the servers for the detailed explanations and stories behind every plate.
Each plate has a story and meaning to it that enhances your experience and stimulates your senses.
This place is a must !

This place is VERY unique and surely stands out from other top-​notch places. I’m shocked to find Unilocalers have only averaged 3 stars! If you would like a unique dining experience (with psychological techniques used), this is your place. They won’t let you leave without their Choco Therapy or rose petal finale. Our server, Hubert, was very knowledgeable and accommodating.
Must-​haves: Roasted corn soup (incomparable) and their spicy ice cream guava dessert.
If you decide to go, enjoy!

Lovely place! Wonderful for having a romantic date! The service is wonderful and you’ll be surprise on the way the serve the food. This is a perfect place to try something completely different, the service really make you feel you’re in the sky!

Love this place when I walked in. Bright, cozy, neat… lots of elements to make this restaurant special at least to me. But like everyone mentioned, if you don’t have time to enjoy this environment or if you are craving for food immediately, I don’t suggest to come. For my recent experience, it took literally 3 hours for our three-​course lunch with party of two. Luckily I didn’t plan anything on that day, otherwise…
Let me start from their surprised pre-​meal «entertainment». They offer a complementary chocolate (edible) hand spa for every guest which I have never seen in other restaurants. From appetizer to dessert, every dish was like a present, excellent presentation! Although the taste not the best, overall I would still give them an A+. They do serve a 10-​course and 15-​course prefix menu and the price is reasonable. I definitely will come back again.

I think it’s a very good concept. The restaurant is very well located. However, you need to be tied to their menu.
I went to the brunch, I didn’t like one of the moments and left everything in the plate the server saw it and didn’t care about it. The best part was when they bring chocolate and put it in our hands, it was a good feeling.

I live in Brickell and a few friends have wanted to try this place. Our friend is moving to Chicago so a perfect time to meet for dinner. We decided to go for Miami Spice menu. We made a reservation for 6 people at 8 p.m. on a Tuesday evening.
Four of us arrived and we were seated at a table. The other two were on their way. I noticed that my head was hitting the a floating shelf so I switched with a friend. Throughout the dinner I kept getting hit by the staff or other customers. It seemed very crowded where we sat.
The four of us each ordered a drink. They were all delicious. The other two ordered drinks when they arrived. One asked for a drink that someone else already ordered. The drink came and it looked and tasted completely different. More or less the server did not know which drink was which. We asked for the correct drink and the server made a comment that three people took a sip of the drink so he should not bring a new one. The issue was he kept saying it was the same drink but it looked and tasted completely different. He brought the new drink and never apologized. Great drinks, poor service.
The Miami Spice menu allows you to choose three courses. You get a total of 7 courses with the menu.
I enjoyed the corn soup. The manager saw me looking at it and told me to stir it then enjoy. It was cold so not sure if that was right or not. I liked it.
My main course was the steak and truffle fries. Both had a lot of flavor and tasted good. The fries and the steak were both cold. We decided not to say anything because it was taking a long time between courses and everyone was very hungry. Clearly the flow was off. No one explained the dish so not sure if the cold food was correct or not. They also seemed confused who ordered medium and medium well.
The staff had a lot of trouble brining the food to the table. They did not seem to know who ordered what. I would expect for a restaurant of this caliber to have seat numbers, deliver all the food at one time, and give it to the correct person. That really never happened so maybe I have the wrong expectation.
I probably should mention here we have not seen our original server for two courses. We are not sure what happened. We now have the manager and other staff working with us.
The desserts came and it was wrong so four of us received desserts and the other two had to wait. The last two desserts came about five minutes later. I tried both desserts and the spicy cheese ice cream was excellent. The prosecco ice cream was okay.
We really wanted to like this place but it was pretty disappointing. I decided to talk with the manager on the way out to give him some feedback. He was very nice and listened. He did tell me that they did not expect so many people tonight and two parties had extra people join them. Even though we had a reservation, they had to make more space because of the larger groups. That makes sense now why the restaurant did not flow well and we were put at a table that was placed wrong.
I have never left a tip less than 20% in Miami so this is my first time leaving 10%. It killed me to do it because I know how hard the staff usually work at a restaurant. We decided that the service was so off that we had no choice.
Unfortunately, I can not recommend this restaurant. I really wish I could have. A very disappointing night.

First of the bat, don’t come here if you don’t have too much time to spare and, or if you are hungry…
Just had dinner here (Miami Spice Menu), party of 9… It took 3 hours from start to finish (it would have taken longer if it wasn’t because many of is decided to go to the bar to get the drinks directly). No one really cared to ask what we wanted to drink or offered a drink/​cocktail menu until we insisted to have one… Never really seen that before in a «fancier» restaurant setting…
— Service: VERY slow but polite
— Food quality & presentation: Very good
— Food temperature: Cold
— Portions: Small to tiny
— Concept: Creative
— Drinks: Very good
I, personally, don’t like eating food that is meant to be hot, cold. Also, don’t like to wait «forever» for the next course, and keep on asking the waiter for my drink…
Definitely, this restaurant needs to take a deeper look at some key operational issues to have better «flow»; more efficient service.

I was very excited to try this restaurant for the experience, molecular/​gastronomy concept, and for the famous Colombian chef. This is not your traditional dining experience by any means. In order to fully enjoy the experience you need to have an open mind and appreciate the concept.
I would describe the experience more like visiting an interactive modern art museum than sitting down to have dinner. The chef takes you through a journey as he calls it, which stimulates all of your senses and pays homage to his country of Colombia. Expect the unexpected! I don’t want to give anything away, because to me the best part was not knowing what was coming next (like any good journey).
All I can say is that it was truly an unforgettable experience and for that I give it 5 stars! Yes it is expensive and the portions are small, although you get about 10 during the night, but that is all part of the experience– do not expect to sit down to a huge meal– that is the least of it! I think the bad reviews here are due to false expectations, so I warn you again, go in with an open mind and you will have a fabulous, unforgettable night! If you love Colombia like I do, you’ll appreciate it even more :)

We were a party of four and took us 3:30 hours to finish our ten course «experience».
None of us liked the food, we thought it was outrageously expensive for the portions that were served… we all left hungry and mad for paying such a high price for such and inconvenience.
It’s horrible. Don’t go there, spend your money in Smith And Wollensky if you want to have a good «experience» and if you actually want to eat, because here you won’t get that!!!

It’s really hard to write a bad review about a restaurant that is owned by a fellow latin-​american but this time and in my opinion, they got the concept all wrong. What works in our countries hardly works here for a long period of time, you really have re-​define the service concept and much more, food-​wise, the combination of ingredients. The service is outstanding in terms of kindness, you feel really bad telling your server he is not doing a good job explaining the food that comes to the table or even following the order (if there is any) of the dishes that come out of the kitchen.
For example, this is the first restaurant of dozens of $$$$ restaurants that I’ve visited that NEVER one single server touch my bottle of wine to pour some. I had to do all the pouring for the table since anybody ever told them that an empty glass of wine means more wine, specially when there is a full bottle in the table.
The fact that the restaurant starts its tasting menu with melted chocolate in a bowl is not a bad a idea since nobody is expecting that, but if during the course of the 15 dishes you put salt/​sweet/​salt/​sweet and so on, there is no way to find neither an evolution nor a proper taste of the ingredients or the dinner itself.
I understand that all the international projection of the Chef and the success that is having right now is mostly because of the support of the community here in Miami and the excellent work he has done in his country, but do not apply that idea success to the quality of the service or the food because here, in Miami, where there are plenty of options, it doesn’t work for more than a few months. Ask Sea, Salt and Pepper!

I was not impressed. Went there with a friend for an event and, while the locale is nice, the food was awful. I ordered a pizza only cheese and pineapple because I am vegetarian and my friend ordered a $ 32 piece of meat. It took 45 minutes to get our food, mine had ham all over it so I had to send it back and my friend’s meat was raw. The «truffle oil» potatoes were basically your run of the mill frozen french fries from Publix and they were cold and bland. Prices are ridiculous, service is terrible (we kept having to ask the waiter to refill our wine glasses, and we were sitting at the bar (!), where he was constantly going past the empty glasses but never once thought of refilling them.
Just a disaster. Go and have a drink but nothing else.

Let me begin by saying that the restaurant was beautifully decorated and we were warmly welcomed by the staff. Although the meal took quite some time we were prepared for 15 «experiences» as they call them. We were even fortunate enough to meet the chef and hear a little bit about his training and how he develops these incredible creative and flavorful dishes. When I asked how he came up with each dish he explained how he has a full lab where he has developed over 1500 different recipes!
Of the 15 courses, it would be near impossible for me to choose a favorite. I really enjoyed the «tree of life» which was a beautifully presented yuca bread with a coconut milk dipping sauce as well as the warm sweet and savory crab crème brûlée.
I would certainly recommend this restaurant to anyone that really enjoys a culinary experience from beginning to end. This is NOT for someone who wants to be done with dinner in an hour. Go with a good group or someone you don’t mind talking too for 3 hours.
Chef Juan Manuel Barrientos is truly an innovator and I would love to visit one of his restaurants in Colombia or perhaps visit El Cielo again.

I thought food was ehhhhhh
The presentations were pretty cool
The parking sucked
Loved the setting on the miami river
The wine list wasn’t ready when I went and the pairing wasn’t the best

We were excited to try El Cielo because Colombian chef Juan Manuel Barrientos’ other restaurants are top notch. We visited on a Friday night during their soft opening, and we were promptly seated in the nearly empty restaurant. As our meal progressed, the restaurant began filling to capacity. As soon as we were seated, our waitress brought a carajillo drink and explained how it was made.
My party had not done research ahead of time, so we were unaware it was a prix fixe menu with wine pairings. This was not explained up front which left us all a little confused. The menu or «journey» consisted of 15 small plates or «moments» at a set price of $ 187 and was handed to us after the third moment.
At first, our server gave us a very detailed explanation on how each moment was prepared, but as the restaurant became more crowded, the server would only show up to deliver each moment and leave. This is understandable, but they shouldn’t have spoiled us at the beginning. Don’t dine here if you are in a hurry as our meal lasted 3.5 hours. The moments came out quickly in the beginning, but as the night went on the gap between courses stretched to 20 minutes.
The food itself was quite flavorful with an impressive and imaginative presentation. Colombians should be proud of Barrientos’ playful take on traditional dishes ranging from empanadas and croquettes, chicken and mash, to an egg shell with cream cheese in it.
El Cielo has a sophisticated and chic atmosphere featuring high end finishes and an excellent air conditioning system. They are also planning an outdoor seating area where boats can dock and enjoy brunch or small bite to eat. Their adventurous menu concept entices your senses through each moment, so come with an open mind… and wallet! The staff is polished and attentive, and the food is unlike anything I’ve seen in Miami previously. However, at this price point, diners should expect nothing short of perfection.

Muy difícil calificar a este restaurant.
El restaurant es muy bonito y bien ambientado pero esta escondido en la parte trasera de un edifico.
La comida es rica pero de Colombiana NO tiene nada, el chef es colombiano pero la comida NO. Por ejemplo tuna sashimi !
El servicio es muy cordial pero no es bueno, me imagino por que es un lugar nuevo pero todo es en cámara lenta, y realmente excepto el chef, el resto no sabe donde esta parado. Éramos 2 nos sentamos a las 9pm y salimos a las 12pm, increíble !
No hay mantel, no hay servicio de pan.
Tal vez es un estilo nuevo y distinto pero por el precio hay muchas mejores opciones con mejor servicio, mejor comida, y mejor organización.
Me cayo muy bien el Chef y creo que necesita tiempo y rodearse de gente que sepa más de gastronomía, especialmente un muy buen Manager que sepa manejar un salón y sus tiempos. Conclusión: si quieren comer bien, no ir; si quieren experimentar algo distinto, visiten El Cielo Miami.

De las mejores experiencias comestibles y sensoriales que he tenido en Miami. Como dice el chef, no son platos sino momentos. Comida colombiana elevada. ¡Felicidades al chef!

Put all your senses to work and experience a unique combination of organic and molecular cuisine that makes good use of colombian products, under a quiet and dignified ambiance with respectful and well informed staff.
The 15 courses our group chose was simply spectacular!