New upscale Italian restaurant opens at La Plaza in Atascadero — with a rooftop bar
Atascadero residents have a new fine dining option in the heart of downtown with the opening of Cielo Ristorante and Rooftop Bar in the La Plaza development.
The Italian eatery, which is located in the building owned by the Zappas family’s Z Villages, held its grand opening on Aug. 1.
It is split into two experiences for guests.
The dining room is a full-service restaurant with a bar and 15 tables indoors, plus 10 tables on the patio out front, Peterson said.
For people who want to enjoy a cocktail and small bites, there’s the rooftop terrace where cold appetizers and drinks are served with a view overlooking Sunken Gardens and Atascadero City’s Hall.
“I think all of us in Atascadero are excited to have a nice place to go (for) a nice date night or nice anniversary dinner, birthday dinner,” Cielo owner Eric Peterson told the Tribune. “I think it adds a really fun option for us Atascaderans.”
Atascadero was missing an Italian restaurant, Cielo owner said
Cielo is Peterson’s seventh venture under the North County Restaurant Group, which includes local spots such as Streetside Ale House and Eatery and Guest House Grill, among others.
It’s the only upscale and only Italian restaurant in Peterson’s portfolio, making it a departure from his other ventures.
The restaurant group chose to open an Italian restaurant because it was an option that was missing from the Atascadero dining scene.
“I think the town just kind of needed that niche filled,” Peterson said.
A few of the chefs working in kitchens owned by the North County Restaurant Group had past experience cooking Italian cuisine, and Peterson said he wanted to use their background in the new establishment.
“We had always wanted to do an Italian thing,” Peterson said. “(The Zappas family) wanted an Italian restaurant in their building, so we worked closely with them and we made it work.”
Peterson and the Zappas family worked together for about three years to bring their vision for an Italian restaurant in the La Plaza building from idea to reality.
The restaurant group hired a designer to create an interior that feels like a modern, upscale restaurant, Peterson said.
“Everything was expensive,” he said of Cielo. “The chairs, the light fixtures, the booths are all custom-made. ... Every finish is really nice.”
The rooftop bar, also called the terrace, was added onto the concept after Z Villages founder Max Zappas proposed the idea, he said.
The terrace is about 1,200 square feet and has couches, fire pits and a “lounge-y vibe,” Peterson said. It also offers a view of the hills and downtown Atascadero.
“It’s a very city restaurant,” he said. “The glassware is all dainty and nice.”
Menu features classic Italian dishes ‘with a twist’
Peterson turned to the expertise of his two lead chefs when it came to developing the menu for Cielo.
Executive chef Sean Deniz cooked at Italian restaurants in Northern California for years before coming to the Central Coast, while chef de cuisine Keven Ames even spent some time cooking in Italy, Peterson said.
When it came to designing the menu they decided to aim for a modern spin on Italian classics, he said.
“It‘s some of those classic Italian dishes with a little bit of a twist,” Peterson said. “But it’s pretty approachable.”
In the restaurant portion of the eatery, diners can order pizza, pasta as well as specialty entrees.
Peterson said you can’t go wrong with the pastas and noted the bucatini carbonara with prawns as one of his favorites.
Meat-eaters will be delighted by the ribeye steak, dry aged for 48 days, Peterson said, noting the dry-aging process is done in-house by the chefs and really transforms the flavor of the meat.
“It does set it apart,” he said. “It’s pretty spectacular.”
Peterson said another one of his favorite specialty dishes is the chicken cacciatore.
“I never ordered chicken at a restaurant, but we just did this chicken cacciatore, which is phenomenal,” he said.
Peterson said the wine menu features numerous Italian options as well as local favorites from Central Coast wine country.
The Italian influence translates to the cocktail program as well.
The restaurant worked with bartenders and regional managers for the past year to develop a one-of-a-kind cocktail program.
“We’re smoking cocktails, we’re bruleeing cocktails,” Peterson said. “The cocktail program was what I’m most proud of.”
In the restaurant, patrons can order cocktails that are having a moment, like the espresso martini or something totally unique to Cielo, like the “cleme brulee old fashioned.”
The rooftop bar offers a different cocktail menu from the main restaurant. Terrace patrons can sip on the Lacroix Boi — a seasonal fruit-influenced cocktail of Aperol plus La Croix sparking water, or a big batch group cocktail like the coyly named Sleeping with the Rancher, which has mezcal, lemon, honey and jasmine water.
Terrace visitors can also order cold appetizers and small plates, he said.
“Fine dining doesn’t have to be intimidating,” head chef Sean Deniz told the Tribune. “We kind of look at it as fine dining in flip-flops.”
Cielo Ristorante and Rooftop Bar is at 6400 El Camino Real in Atascadero.
The kitchen is open daily from 4 to 9 p.m., and the bar is open Sunday to Thursday, 4 to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 4 to 10 p.m.
The dining room accepts reservations, but the terrace bar is currently walk-in only. Make a reservation online at www.cieloatascadero.com or call 805-460-9808.
