When Colombian chef Juan "Juanma" Manuel Barrientos first set foot in Miami, he envisioned opening a stateside outpost of his fine-dining restaurant Elcielo. Today he has two: one in Brickell and a second
inside the SLS South Beach. Like its sister establishments in cities like Bogotá and Washington, D.C., the Brickell restaurant is centered on a multisensory tasting menu known as "the Experience"; the SLS location gives diners an à la carte option to create their own gastronomic journey. Standout moments remain the same in both dining rooms, from plucking tufts of spice-dusted yuca bread off branches from the edible "Tree of Life" bonsai tree to bathing your hands in melted chocolate before devouring the "chocola-therapy" dessert.