As the shades of darkness fall upon the city that never sleeps, one venue still glistens amongst the current mire of New York nightlife.

Cielo, which was opened in December 2002 by DJ Nicolas Matar, is one of the few venues in NY which threaten to create something special, new and original musically, carrying on the rich musical heritage the city is known for through the legacy of clubs like The Paradise Garage, The Loft, The Sound Factory and Body and Soul. Flagship nights in the venue include Francois K's Deep Space night every Monday and Louie Vega and Kevin Hedge's Roots night on every Wednesday.

Its location is true to New York nightlife's downtown roots. Located in a quaint non-descript building on the meatpacking districts Little West 12th Street, it could easily be missed by those not in the know. The interior on the other hand couldn't be less subtle if it tried. A square shaped room with an intimate capacity of approximately 400, the walls are decked out in the fashion of a log cabin interior, with selected beams housing lights, which are controlled by the talented Cielo lightmen, such as legendary NY luminary Ariel. In addition to this ingenious trait, Cielo also packs a top class lighting rig and a funktion one soundsystem, which in tandem with the rooms excellent acoustics, sounds clear as crystal. All in all, Cielo is a must for house music fans visiting the big apple, though it is advised to reserve a spot on the paying guestlist if going to avoid waiting in line and to guarantee you get in the place. It gets busy early.

Talent: Not really the type of place you go to pull, but the crowd seems 50/50 male female with a worryingly high trendy yuppie quotient amidst the usual quota of downtown scenesters and tourists.

Toilets: Small but very clean and not too packed. No problems in this department.

Sounds: Really depends on the night but can vary from dub reggae (Francois K - Mondays) to Latin house (Louie Vega – Wednesdays) to big room prog and electro (Various big name international guests – Thursdays) and Good old fashion traditional vocal house from the likes of Junior Vasquez, who has a monthly residency on Sundays.

Goodies: It didn't seem to be a major factor during my visit and while I'm sure they were available to those interested in some shape or form, it certainly seemed in no way obvious and security in the venue was very tight and professional.

Icebreaker: This ain't as good as back in the Paradise Garage.

Jawbreaker: Do you have the latest Dow Jones figures for today?

From Conor L