Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
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November 29–December 6, 2001
naked city
Cibucán Lounge
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If you can think as far back as 2000, you’ll remember a surge in Cuban-Latin fusion locales that followed the successful wake of ¡Pasión! Gringo-started restaubars like Alma de Cuba and Cuba Libre varied in degrees of theatricality. These spots were delicious. But one venue — Cibucán — got dissed in the press department. Sad, because Francesca Prieto and Stephen Jenkins’ self-built space with brick and blue-cloudy walls and pop-art orange kitchen-area seating made a cool repose for a traditional tapas menu spiced up neo-style with New Latino/Caribbean flair.
Cibucán’s quietly future-fusion-forward menu and decor made for an interesting fourth corner for Philly’s nu-Latin square, as well as a pixie-ish addition to the block of Sansom Street known for InterAct Theater and the Roxy. Now Cibucán is new again, having just finished a second-floor lounge spot that’s as chill and intimate as its first floor. Cibucán’s brick motif and textural plasterwork is carried upstairs as well.
Floor one’s cloudyclouds are maintained too — but by actual starshine here, with a white cathedral ceiling holding huge, high-arched skylights spotted by greenery over the smoked-glass slat and rich mahogany bar area. The DJ booth is planted so far in the corner of the bar that it’s almost like Arte Johnson coming out of the bushes on Laugh-In. Very interesting. Though they may be farthest from the bar and closest to the kitchen area, DJs like Cozmic Cat, Deep C, Hector and Koji create their own brand of hyper-bossa proximity, drawing eyes and ears over to their side for quiet dance-lounge intimacy. Fresh, tropical floral arrangements and potted palms surround the pale-leather couches and white-formica and glass furnishings. This leads you to the raised-dais front of the house where an all-glass wall looks onto Sansom Street like a nosy neighbor, peering straight down into Susan Henry Studios and a crowd of blabbing busybodies convening in front of Cibucán’s rice-papery awning. Like they did with floor one, Cibucán’s owners have made floor two a simple, elegant lounge without spending the usual millions, making a small-budget spot with great emotion and design charm.
Cibucán Latin Fusion Restaurant, 2025 Sansom St., 215-231-9895.
