I landed in San Juan on Jan. 8, just 36 hours after a 6.4 magnitude earthquake hit Puerto Rico. It was followed by a series of smaller earthquakes and aftershocks that killed at least one person.
In San Juan, restaurants were affected to varying degrees. Some lost power for several days. "We've learned to come together after natural disasters," said Jose Enrique, the island's most celebrated chef. During the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, which devastated Puerto Rico in 2017, Enrique was tapped by José Andrés and his World Central Kitchen to help feed what eventually became millions of locals and rescue workers.
Following Maria and Hurricane Irma, the local tourism market — which accounts for 6.5% of the island's gross domestic product — took a nose-dive. Now there are an average of 200 arrivals on any given day at San Juan's airport, up from a low of 20, and the inventory of hotel rooms has increased 3.4% since 2017. The year 2019 also saw the highest lodging revenue year-to-date for Puerto Rico tourism.
Enrique says the food scene in San Juan has evolved to become more dynamic and locally focused since the hurricanes. Now the island is showcasing a singular kind of cooking that you can't find anywhere else, as cooks and bartenders take a fresh look at such classics as mofongo (mashed plantains), empanadas, pernil, roasted pork and piña coladas. Even for dishes that aren't typically Puerto Rican, chefs are sourcing more ingredients from the island.
"After every earthquake, every storm, we say: 'We're going to do this bigger and better,' " Enrique said.
Where to eat
Jose Enrique: Puerto Rico's most celebrated chef has taken his exuberant criollo cooking to a buzzy, brasserie-style dining room in Condado. In the softly lit space, Enrique serves perennial favorites such as crispy fried yellowtail with sweet yam mash and paper-thin swordfish schnitzel. New and mandatory are plate-sized fried salt cod bacalitos, which are excellent with a coconut-water highball. In the spring, Enrique will transform the second floor of the building into an additional restaurant with a selection of ceviches and carpaccios and toasts with toppings like uni and herb butter, as well as assorted sparkling wines and sake, all with a view of the ocean.
Verde Mesa: This Old San Juan dining room has a romantic, antique-store vibe and a menu from chef Gabriel Hernandez with more vegetables than a lot of local dining rooms. There are options like pumpkin barley porridge stocked with roast eggplant, kale and mushrooms; pigeon pea hummus; and swordfish ceviche, sometimes accompanied by crisp chips made from malanga, a tropical root vegetable. The favorite dessert is the purple dream, a combination of berries and whipped cream, with crispy meringue and a floral hit of lavender.
Prole Cocina & Barra: Highlights include pollo frito-sous vide fried chicken with crispy Brussels sprouts and truffle mash, a 22-oz. cowboy rib-eye with grilled asparagus, and burrata salad made with heirloom cherry tomatoes and local sourdough. At the buzzy bar, customers can get the gin-and-cucumber Lobo Demesticado and house favorite Tito Placita, which combines vodka, aperol, ginger and lime with Ocean Lab Mambo beer.
