Before
I tell you what type of cuisine this restaurant is, let me say this: it's a very exciting and new spot in Sandy Springs
that is putting out beautifully plated chef-driven dishes with bold, rich
flavors, delicious seafood, dynamic ingredients, and sophisticated cocktails. Any guess on the cuisine? American? Italian?
Korean? Nope, it's Mexican! But not Tex-Mex like most Atlantans would
envision, but Mexican cuisine from the Oaxaca region of Mexico. No mariachis, no sombreros, no neon velvet
paintings. This place is hip, modern and
amazing.
Casi Cielo, which translates as "almost
heaven," mixes ancestral cooking (the blue corn tortilla chips are handmade and
cooked on a ceramic grill called a comal) with modern techniques (the octopus
al carbon is first cooked sous vide before it's finished over charcoal) for incredibly gratifying results. Other standout dishes include tuna tartare
with mango and avocado, Mexican
foie-gras meatballs with tenderloin tartar, duck croquettes, and ribeye with cilantro
chimichurri. Tacos do show
up on the menu but these are not your typical tacos: wrap your own blue corn tortillas around with
suckling pig, octopus or lamb served in a roasted bone with marrow. To wash it all down, order up a cocktail that
includes one of fifty different smokey mezcals.
Casi
Cielo scratches an itch I never even know I had. Great Mexican cuisine is hard to find in
Atlanta and much of it is the Americanized Tex-Mex. This food and the spirit of the place is a revelation
to the dining scene. Check another box
for Sandy Springs whose dining choices are almost heaven.
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