THE SPICE ROUTE Ceviche leaps from Silver Spring to Glover Park—and spikes neighborhood nights with zesty Latin bites With its tall broad windows, candy-apple red leather booths and lusty South American flair, Ceviche in Silver Spring radiates so much heat, it’s ironic that its namesake dish cooks without a stove. Diehard District denizens might even be dazed to realize that such a sensual stew of nightlife and authentic “Novo-Andino” cuisine— a modern mélange of traditional Peruvian and Ecuadorian preparations—has been buzzing up the ‘burbs for about two years now. Downtown hipsters take note: There is nightlife beyond U Street. And here’s the shocker: Those cats in Silver Spring might be having a better time than you. For this we have Mauricio Fraga-Rosenfeld to thank. The lounge savant who brought Maté to Georgetown, Chi-Cha to U Street, Gazuza to Dupont and Guarapo to Arlington has been busy helping locals burn the midnight oil in increasingly unlikely places. That his Ceviche restaurant is the sine qua non in Silver Spring for everything from samba to its namesake seafood salad is by now conventional wisdom.

But here’s news: Fraga-Rosenfeld is so pleased by this steamy scene that he’s doing a duplicative cha cha in Glover Park and plans to unveil Ceviche clones in two additional DC locations. “Why reinvent something that works?” Fraga-Rosenfeld asked during a recent conversation between trips to Ecuador and Shanghai. “We’re ready to bring the Ceviche concept to the world.” Fabulous. But does the world await? With bright but bleary memories of the original Ceviche, with my mind still dancing under a haze of pisco sours and steamed mussels with chorizo and chimichurri sauce, I head over to Ceviche numero dos in Glover Park to test the theory that such a spicy marinade of flavors, colors and textures can be successfully repeated in new neighborhoods without being lost in translation. Ceviche is ceviche writ large. Just as borders and boundaries blend in the eponymous citrus-marinated fish dish that pretty much cooks on its own, the menu of Ceviche features foods that might be served across South America, from Ecuadorian-style empanadas to churrasco (barbecue) from the pampas of Brazil and Argentina. Javier Angeles-Beron, executive chef of Fraga-Rosenfeld’s Latin Concepts company, is the mind behind the menu that has made the original venue wildly popular. Sure enough, not many dishes are as electrifying on a weekend night as a plate of ceviche, prepared to order and delicious, lean fuel for the debauchery to come. Particularly good is the tuna ceviche in a ginger wasabi soy sauce and the shrimp, calamari and fish (on one night, turbot) with aji pepper, giving the mixture just enough bite without being overpowering. If you’ve come here to dine sparingly between sublimely refreshing coconut or pomegranate martinis, why not order up a salty snack of lightly fried yucca wedges with zesty huancayna dip or some deeply satisfying corn fritters with Gruyère?

It helps that chef de cuisine Angeles-Beron is at the helm of the Glover kitchen for now. His lomo saltado is an astonishingly good mixture of grilled beef, tomatoes, onions, and long thin slices of tender fried potatoes served over rice. His most popular dish, pulled chicken and potatoes bathed in aji cream and parmesan cheese served over rice, is mild and delicious but a bit heavy if you hope to hit the clubs later.

One night, my dining companion ordered grilled vegetables, which he mistakenly believed were on the menu. Instead of correcting him, Angeles-Beron prepared a special order of gorgeous rounds of carrots, leeks, onions and squash, cooked to caramelization and cross hatched with grill marks. This was a generous personal touch from the chef, yet it casts light on a larger problem: Why do such dreamy entrées as the churrasco of three rounds of perfectly grilled beef lightened with a topping of Argentinean herb and garlic chimichurri arrive with a limp load of steamed veggies instead of the grilled beauties this kitchen is all too happy to whip up at the slightest suggestion?

When Angeles-Beron turns his attention from Ceviche Glover to the Peruvian/Chinese Chifa-style menu at Yaku, another Latin Concepts restaurant set to open in Clarendon later this year, Glover Park’s resident chef will be Jose Luis Herrera, formerly chef at the Peruvian embassy; he should be well-versed in special requests like those roasted vegetables. Broad menu changes are unlikely, and in many cases who would want them? A range of piquant apertivos makes for hot hunting-and-pecking. Sauteed shrimp with roasted garlic and jalapeño is a great starter. Chimichurri makes a welcome appearance atop diced avocado, cherry tomatoes and fresh white cheese in a winning salad. But the kitchen could use a bit of help with a few platos fuertes (entrées), such as a bland and little-too-fishy grilled salmon served with unremarkable quinoa— particularly disappointing because its Spanish name includes the word “mojo” which got me all sorts of excited.Accompaniments tend to be blandly literal: fried plantains and steamed yucca are pretty much just as you’d expect.

And what about wines? With a world of Chilean and Argentine varietals to choose from one might expect a lust list of Malbec. Dream on. A random cache of reds by the bottle or glass is listlessly listed on the menu with no apparent logic, leaving you at the mercy of servers who, on my visits, were no oenophiles. With no bottle priced above $40, that’s a forgivable crime. But it’s a shame not to enhance a meal with a higher standard of service. Those postres could use a bit more attention, too. Desserts such as très leches, a hunk of dry cake lurking in a moat of ordinary milk, barrel down the line with more heft than grace, though coconut flan makes for a tasty ending to an enjoyable meal.

Ceviche Glover Park is not yet—and may never be—a nightlife destination akin to Ceviche Silver Spring. The latter has live music on Friday and Saturday nights and distinct lounge and dining areas. The narrow Glover space presents its own challenges. For instance, where does one place that gaucho guitar player? Piped-in music turns on and off intermittently as if it’s hooked up to a Clapper. And on one steamy night when the air conditioning was broken, the communal bar table in the dining room was accessorized with a scary-looking makeshift cooling contraption that looked like something from Lost in Space. Not exactly an ambience that screams chic or encourages late-night lingering.

WHETHER CEVICHE BECOMES, AS ITS OWNER INTENDS, THE STARBUCKS OF HIGH-STYLE EVENING DESTINATIONS THAT MERGE A SWISHY COCKTAIL SCENE WITH A SOPHISTICATED MENU REMAINS TO BE SEEN.

But the narrow space is improved by Fraga-Rosenfeld’s personal aesthetic, evident in the tiered amber hanging lamps and slick red banquettes, which he designed himself. Tracing the interior history of Ceviche is like playing six degrees of Fraga- Rosenfeld. Furniture design is his hobby; the chairs are manufactured by a friend in Poland, whom he met at a furniture show in Paris, where he also found the Turkish light fixtures for Glover. “It took me about 30 seconds to decide to buy,” Fraga-Rosenfeld explains, referring to the space on Wisconsin Avenue, formerly occupied by Austin Grill and up the block from youthful hot spots Bourbon and Town Hall.

Whether Ceviche becomes, as its owner intends, the Starbucks of high-style evening destinations that merge a swishy cocktail scene with a sophisticated menu remains to be seen. The restaurant might well become this neighborhood’s zesty Latin living room. Don’t be surprised if you see a Ceviche appear on your own block sometime soon. That’s Fraga-Rosenfeld’s plan—and, if history is any guide, he usually gets what he wants.

CEVICHE GLOVER PARK: 2404 WISCONSIN AVE., NW, 202.333.3877; SILVER SPRING: 921-J ELLSWORTH DR., 301.608.0081. Hours: Vary. Glover park: dinner seven nights a week. Brunch sat.–sun. Silver spring: lunch and dinner mon.–fri. Dinner only sat.–sun. Website: www.Latinconcepts.Com/ceviche.

The scene: the first of three proposed ceviches in DC, the Glover location is more silver spring’s fraternal twin than clone, packing identical enormous peruvian flavor into its narrow space but not (so far) the nightlife. Who’s there: Glover Park packs in a hip neighborhood and collegiate crowd. Silver Spring’s Ceviche is a more integrated (and dressier) place to be and gets crowded on weekend nights. Good to know: ask about nightly specials and start with the namesake dish. The Silver Spring location has live latin music a few nights a week. What it costs: lunch and dinner appetizers $6–11; entrées $14–22; desserts $8. Rating: 3 stars