Puerto Rico’s new cuisine will have you at “hola”

For reviewer-praised, upscale San Juan dining, follow the foodies to Pikayo, a modern masterpiece in the Conrad San Juan Condado Plaza. Chef Wilo Benet invokes his Culinary Institute of America degree, his keep photographer’s eye and his inventor’s urge to mastermind dazzling, delectable dishes.

We’re talking empanadilla turnovers with truffle mojito sauce, risotto with chicharron (pork cracklings), and a saffron-dusted update of the beloved local dish, mofongo, more or less a Puerto Rican matzoh ball made from green plantains and pork. Benet tops his mofongo with a fat shrimp and lavishes it with saffron broth. (Varita, Benet’s other eatery in the hotel, serves more traditional Puerto Rican dishes.)
When “Top Chef” filmed an episode last season in San Juan and required a guest judge, who’d they call? Yep, that’s how you know Wilo Benet. When you’re talking celeb chefs in Puerto Rico, his name is Numero Uno.

Read the full article by NY Culinary Travel ExaminerKaren Tina Harrison