01
Coconut, every which way
We crack coconuts at dawn for rice, for milk, for the sweet titote crust at the bottom of the pot. It runs through almost everything we cook.
Cartagena, Colombia
Eat the color of the coast
Coconut, fire and ripe market fruit, cooked the loud and joyful way of the Colombian Caribbean.
Open since 2017Hola, sit anywhere
We cook the coast, and we cook it loud.
Celele is the food of the Colombian Caribbean, the food of market stalls and coal stoves and a radio that never stops. Coconut runs through almost everything. Fish comes straight off the boat. Fruit arrives by the crate and leaves as sorbet, sauce and juice.
Celele was born from long drives along the coast, from market stalls stacked with mango and corozo, from kitchens where the radio never stops. We cook the food of the Colombian Caribbean the way our grandmothers did, with coconut, fire, ripe fruit and a lot of noise. Every plate is a small party.
What we are about
Three things we cannot cook without.
02
Fish straight off the boat
Our snapper and mojarra arrive from local fishers most mornings. We grill them whole over coals until the skin crackles and the flesh stays sweet.
03
Fruit from the market
Corozo, nispero, lulo, mango and tamarind come in by the crate. We turn them into juices, ferments, sauces and the brightest desserts on the coast.
On most tables tonight
The plates people drive across town for.
Coconut ceviche of snapper
34Lime, coconut milk, ripe mango and a crackle of toasted plantain.
Whole grilled mojarra
58Off the coals until the skin shatters, with coconut rice and green mango.
Arroz con coco and crab
52Deep brown coconut rice cooked to a titote crust, folded with blue crab.
Patacon with suero costeno
22Crisp green plantain, tangy cultured cream and a spoon of hot aji.
Corozo sorbet
16Deep magenta sorbet of wild corozo berries with toasted coconut.
A room painted every color we could find.
The happiest dinner I have eaten all year, and the coconut rice alone is worth the flight.
Come hungry, come early, bring everyone.