Visiting elcielo Washington is like attending an immersive, interactive performance. Each of the 18 courses in the tasting menu unfolds as a multi-sensory drama designed to elicit awe—and inspire a flood of Instagram posts. “We call it fun dining,” says chef Juan Manuel “Juanma” Barrientos.
The social-media appeal of a dish is considered during the creative process. “If a brand doesn’t exist on social media, it doesn’t exist,” Barrientos admits. “Of course, we’re mindful of that. But the first and most important focus is the guest’s experience in the moment at the restaurant.”
Early in the meal, guests encounter the restaurant’s now-iconic Chocotherapy, an option to wash their hands in liquid chocolate. “It’s to do something extremely out of the box,” Barrientos says. “It makes you uncomfortable, but that’s part of taking you out of the box.”
Since the first elcielo opened in Medellín in 2007, more than 2 million guests have experienced it—including opera singer Andrea Bocelli and Spain’s king, who has dined there twice. But behind the celebrity diners and accolades is a deeper story—one of a young chef willing to test tradition and push boundaries.
From the beginning, Barrientos knew his ideas would challenge expectations. “It is a traditional city with conservative people… they were mostly eating beans, rice, and meat—not avant-garde cuisine,” he recalls. That tension has defined his cooking ever since, with elcielo conceived as both theater and philosophy: translating Colombia’s memory and biodiversity into modern fine dining, and positioning its cuisine as ambitious, global, and entirely its own.
