Cielo Rooftop

Overview

Visit one particular Fortitude Valley building, and multiple options await. If you feel like sitting behind a heritage facade and eating Italian bites, then La Costa has you covered. It also doubles as a bar, too. But, upstairs on the rooftop at the same Brunswick Street address, Cielo is doing its thing as well. It focuses on cocktails, with good reason. When you're pouring drinks curated by one of the best bars in the world — Sydney's Maybe Sammy, which was named the 11th best for 2020 — then you want to make a big deal of it.

Accessed via an internal lift, this rooftop spot also takes inspiration from the Italian riviera like its downstairs neighbours. That means cocktails like the Portofino ($24, with vodka, mango, passionfruit, maraschino, orange curaçao, lemon and a tropical bubble), the Venice Beach ($22, which combines a strawberry daiquiri and piña colada) and the Santorini ($19, with tequila, mezcal, Aperol, mango and lemon).

Three types of spritzes ($18–19) are also on offer, plus champagne, wine and spirits. And seafood features heavily among the bites to eat, including oysters ($30 for a half-dozen), octopus carpaccio with fried capers ($20), kingfish ceviche ($22), and blue swimmer crab and mango salad ($24).

Cielo trades from midday from Thursday–Sunday, so you can also enjoy a midday bite and beverage with a view. And, it does regular rooftop yoga sessions as well.

KItti Gould