Cloud Dining Lounge to open in Dupont Circle

[Rich Pawlak]

In my inbox this morning:

Washington, DC (January 31, 2005) - Inspired by chic, late night dining

spots around the world, Cloud Dining Lounge, located at One Dupont Circle,

will offer a global experience of cuisine, music, ambiance and culture.

Formerly Savino's Café, Cloud will be transformed into a luxurious white on

white vision exuding the ethereal feeling of a cloud. The restaurant's

"soft" opening will be in February followed by a grand opening in March. In

their first collaboration, restaurateurs Savino Recine and John Tsiaoushis

will open the glamorous dining lounge daily at 5 p.m., offering a diverse

menu of world tapas late into the night, complemented by music from all over

the globe.

Recine, who also owns Primi Piatti and Finemondo, is creating the menu of

hot and cold tapas from around the world, including Europe, Asia, Mexico and

the Middle East. Specialties on the menu include the Honduran Ceviche, made

with fresh ahi tuna, topped with fried plantains and served in a coconut

shell and the Asian-inspired Lobster Pineapple Salad, served with basil and

mint inside a pineapple. Cloud will also feature a raw bar and a selection

of specialty and champagne cocktails. The menu, conceived by Recine to

complement his passion for collecting music from around the world, will be

implemented by Chef Vincent Torres. Recine will personally compile the music

that will be heard by diners each evening, from his personal collection of

thousands of cds.

"Cloud is a celebration of every culture," said Recine. "My hope is that

every guest can find a connection with our dining lounge, whether it be

through food, music or the ambiance."

Upon entering, guests will immediately be enveloped by Cloud's soft interior

design, which features a state of the art lighting system giving the

illusion of 3-D clouds floating along the front curtains. Designer Walter

Gagliano, whose work includes Ceiba, TenPenh, DC Coast and Jaleo,

incorporates a pearly, iridescent white floor, white faux leather seating,

and gauzy white curtains that allow guests to see and be seen. Cozy tables

for two feature glowing translucent tabletops, illuminated by "candles"

secured underneath. Guests can also dine on comfy beds intimately draped

with sheer curtains or at a frosted Plexiglas 16-foot communal table.

Continuously projecting white and colored lights, the LED lighting system

will add energy and definition to the space, with colors changing subtly

throughout the evening.

A private and luxurious VIP dining area called Cloud 9 will also be

available. Upon descending into Cloud 9, guests can recline on a full-sized

canopy bunk bed. Three sectional beds, another lounging option, are made of

tuffeted, white faux leather, and accented with multi-colored throw

cushions. Centered in the middle is a multi-tiered stand which will hold

champagne, tapas and other food specialties.

Tsiaoushis, who owned Acropolis and created the Shark Club, said, "Savino

and I traveled the world in search of our inspiration. The name for the

dining lounge came to us as we were flying through the clouds on a plane, as

we returned from a trip." According to Tsiaoushis, plans to transform the

space into Cloud have been in the works for around 18 months.

Cloud's extensive drink menu includes a variety of specialty champagne

cocktails such as the Yellow Fever, a combination of thinly-sliced kumquats,

Grand Marnier, sugar and champagne, and Cloud Nine, made with vanilla vodka,

pear juice and Prosecco. Other creative specialty cocktails include the Star

of India, made with rum, orange liquor, passion fruit juice, Sambuca, a

splash of sprite and organic rose petals and the Thai Martini, a mixture of

coconut flavored rum and sour apple liquor, Granny Smith apple and lemon

grass.

Cloud is located at One Dupont Circle, NW, Washington, DC 20036.

So....serious, or lightweight?

[JPW]

So....serious, or lightweight?

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Scary.

No doubt the place will be packed....

until the next "hot spot" opens and/or bed-lounging is out of style.

[DCMark]

Yeah and Acropolis did so well (not). More BS pseudo-cool places for people to drop $250 on a bottle of Cristal. So f**king boring!

[Gastro888]

Sounds like a place where people watching would be alot of fun.

I suppose the dress code is 'designer label whore'? *grin*

[Tweaked]

My first impression from reading that is they are taking lots of "been there done that" ideas and mashing them into one concept:

white on white - done

tapas and raw bar menu in a cluby/lounge setting - done

beds in a cluby/lounge setting - done

long center piece communal table - done

lighting system that changes throughout the night - done

maybe the music will be good???

I'm sure it will do well with the Table Service crowd.

[bilrus]

Modeling a menu to complement your personal CD collection?

Maybe not done, but my guess is that it should be.

Although maybe the NY Times will think we are cool now.

Edited February 1, 2005 by bilrus (log)

[DCMark]

The one thing that is guaranteed to be the worst is the music. As someone a bit involved in the DJ/house culture in DC, these places play terrible music. It will be a 'naked records' CD on repeat no doubt.

My first impression from reading that is they are taking lots of "been there done that" ideas and mashing them into one concept:

white on white - done

tapas and raw bar menu in a cluby/lounge setting - done

beds in a cluby/lounge setting - done

long center piece communal table - done

lighting system that changes throughout the night - done

maybe the music will be good???

I'm sure it will do well with the Table Service crowd.

←

Edited February 1, 2005 by DCMark (log)

[mnebergall]

Guests can also dine on comfy beds intimately draped

with sheer curtains

I guess this takes the "smooching booth" concept to its logical conclusion.

[bmiller]

The cocktails at Savino's were always excellent. I'm sure they still will be.

[Kanishka]

Upon descending into Cloud 9, guests can recline on a full-sized

canopy bunk bed. Three sectional beds, another lounging option, are made of

tuffeted, white faux leather, and accented with multi-colored throw

cushions.

Mom always chastised me for eating in my bedroom... and eating in bed? Thats even worse.

Beds in club/lounges: so over it. Hey, aspiring clubowners, can we find a new concept? How about a VIP room modeled after a playground? Martinis on the seesaw, popping Cristal in the sandbox...

K

[Tweaked]

The one thing that is guaranteed to be the worst is the music. As someone a bit involved in the DJ/house culture in DC, these places play terrible music. It will be a 'naked records' CD on repeat no doubt.

Or Best of Ibiza Trance - Greatest Hits 2000-2004

[JennyUptown]

Oh dear...beds. Blah.

All I wanted from Savino's was some decent music. In its previous incarnation (discussed a little here) was OK in that it had some great cocktails, plenty of space and was metro-accessible, but the vibe was just wrong and the food was icky at times.

Edited February 1, 2005 by JennyUptown (log)

[JRage]

How about a VIP room modeled after a playground? Martinis on the seesaw, popping Cristal in the sandbox...

That's actually a cool idea... I'll have to test that out when I take my kid to a real playground.

[jmc8y]

this is my favorite part:

A private and luxurious VIP dining area called Cloud 9 will also be

available. Upon descending into Cloud 9, guests can recline on a full-sized

canopy bunk bed. Three sectional beds, another lounging option, are made of

tuffeted, white faux leather, and accented with multi-colored throw

cushions. Centered in the middle is a multi-tiered stand which will hold

champagne, tapas and other food specialties.

[morela]

This is my least favorite part because it makes my salivary glands water in the bad way...

Other creative specialty cocktails include the Star

of India, made with rum, orange liquor, passion fruit juice, Sambuca, a

splash of sprite and organic rose petals ...

←

If the drink's any good,

shouldn't Sambuca just be a secret ingredient like Krusty's Non Narkotik Kough Syrup is in a Flaming Moe?

Ick.

[FunJohnny]

This is my least favorite part because it makes my salivary glands water in the bad way...

Other creative specialty cocktails include the Star

of India, made with rum, orange liquor, passion fruit juice, Sambuca, a

splash of sprite and organic rose petals ...

←

If the drink's any good,

shouldn't Sambuca just be a secret ingredient like Krusty's Non Narkotik Kough Syrup is in a Flaming Moe?

Ick.

←

Is Derek under exclusive contract at Firefly? Otherwise he could perhaps pick-up a cocktail consultancy.

[MelGold]

Imagine maintaining the Clouds...I don't know how coordinated other people are, but climbing into bed with a martini glass in hand and a plate of tapas in the other... I see some nasty cleaning bills happening. Yuck

[oliveDC]

Guests can also dine on comfy beds intimately draped

with sheer curtains ...

Upon descending into Cloud 9, guests can recline on a full-sized

canopy bunk bed. Three sectional beds, another lounging option, are made of

tuffeted, white faux leather, and accented with multi-colored throw

cushions.

I love that this has generated so much discussion.

My question for these designers is have you ever tried dining on a bed, much less "reclining" with drink in hand? I did the bed thing once (never again), and climbing on your hands and knees with a martini in hand, butt in air, across a silly cushioned platform to then have to turn over and stick you legs out in front of you ... well, let's just say it wasn't pretty. Or comfortable.

Oh well. I never liked Savino's interior anyway.

[bmiller]

Should be interesting to see how the interior turns out. Gagliano's designed some nice restaurants, but none of them are at all club-type spaces.

I'm a little concerned about the description of the "canopy bunk bed". I suspect the description was has more to do with the writer getting a little carried away than with reality - it's hard to imagine a canopied bunk bed, much less one that's capable of keeing drunken patrons on the top bunk. Maybe they just needed the hyperbole to compete with the non-swinging swinging sofas at IndeBleu.

[JennyUptown]

Has anyone checked out the "soft opening"?

I might have to take one for the team this week. If the drinks are still good, I may be able to get past the trite bed thing (while sitting at the bar in proper stools).

[Rich Pawlak]

Has anyone checked out the "soft opening"? 

I might have to take one for the team this week.  If the drinks are still good, I may be able to get past the trite bed thing (while sitting at the bar in proper stools).

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Oh hell, take one for the "team".

[KVentura]

Did anyone ever check this place out? Going there with some girlfriends tonight. They usually do the Euro clubby thing so I'm hoping this is a little less pretentious.

[DCMark]

What exactly is the Eruo clubbing thing?

Did anyone ever check this place out? Going there with some girlfriends tonight.  They usually do the Euro clubby thing so I'm hoping this is a little less pretentious.

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[Sthitch]

What exactly is the Eruo clubbing thing?

Did anyone ever check this place out? Going there with some girlfriends tonight.  They usually do the Euro clubby thing so I'm hoping this is a little less pretentious.

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Wear lots of over priced black and look down your nose at people who dare to wear less expensive black, all the while drink the new hip drink whether you like it or not.

[JPW]

What exactly is the Eruo clubbing thing?

Did anyone ever check this place out? Going there with some girlfriends tonight.  They usually do the Euro clubby thing so I'm hoping this is a little less pretentious.

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Wear lots of over priced black and look down your nose at people who dare to wear less expensive black, all the while drink the new hip drink whether you like it or not.

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Don't foget that the women have to be anorexic arm candy and the guys have to have more grease in their hair than in the transmission of their small penis compensating 6 figure sports cars.