Wilo Benet: Pikayo Perfecto

By JULIETTE ROSSANT On my second night in San Juan last week, I was heading to the best restaurant on the island by general consenus: Pikayo, housed at the Museo de Arte and flagship of chef Wilo Benet. Pikayo is "best" for all the right reasons: creative food, well paired wines, excellent service, and beautiful design. Still, there is something wonderfully naughty about visiting a museum at night. The building was empty, and I was tempted to sneak into one of the dark halls to take a private peak. Hunger (and a watchful guard) spurred me on to the restaurant. Pikayo's host, the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, is a Smithsonian affiliate (click here to see interior shots). The restaurant's doors are off the central atrium. Inside, the light is calm and passes seamlessly through all the shades of the rainbow. (If you don't look good in blues, just wait a few seconds until the red or yellow tones appear.) The main dining area is sectioned off with opaque glass windows and sheer curtains that give a sense of intimacy matched by the gracious service. (The designer is New York-based Benjamin Noriega-Ortíz, a fellow puertorriqueno and you can see images from the restaurant at his website -- click on the lefthand "Commercial" button and choose "Pikayo.") I had met Wilo the night before and toured his high-tech kitchen, replete with flat-screen video monitors such as I had seen at Daniel in New York. He said that he checks on service remotely whenever he is traveling. In fairness, the bar also has a large, flat-screen monitor that allows diners to keep an eye on the kitchen live. When I saw it, the kitchen was was spotless and calm on camera. Back in a receiving area that doubles for catering, Wilo told me he likes to "implode dishes" and reconstruct. He takes traditional peasant cooking of Puerto Rico and marries it with more sophisticated tastes and techniques from abroad. For this treatment, he draws on experience that includes The Water Club and Le Bernardin. We started our tasting meal with a glass of crisp champagne and an amuse of hamachi tartare with flying fish roe in a Asian sauce sprinkled with black sesame seeds. Just as Roberto Trevino had enticed me with his ceviche on the previous evening (see review), this little tower of fresh fish transported me to a sun-drenched beach and the sound of surf (a daydream perhaps further encouraged at that moment by a turquoise hue of light). What was most wonderful was Benet's control of color that played against the white asymetrical bowls and plates. This was followed by a Maine Diver scallop in a scallop buerre blanc resting on crab. The waiter finished it off with lobster oil drizzled from a spoon. The texture of the scallops was firm yet tender, and smooth. These were fresh (like all the seafood I ate at Pikayo and Aguaviva) and buttery. Next came a shitake mushroom risotto with melted foie gras, a bit of plantain and shaved truffle, and a dusting of porcini mushroom. Plantains, one of the main staples of Puetro Rico, work very well in risotto, bringing a note of sweetness to the earthy mushroom flavors and almost made the melted foie gras superfluous. Next came mofongo in a timbale of mashed plantains with breadfruit crisp. This implosion is a rethinking of the structure of mofongo by pairing it with an island fruit, a variation on the peasant version which thus ligthens the otherwise very starchy plaintain. A fat, grilled shrimp followed, topped with shredded Spanish chorizo in a buerre blanc flavored with soursop. It was salty and fruity and fun: who ever heard of using sweet soursop in a savory dish? The last seafood was halibut atop vegetable tempura in a crayfish sauce. Benet has a great hand with reduction sauces, and this one complimented the fish well. Last was a large Australian lambchop in a portwine reduction sauce that was again complex and subtle and so a perfect foil for the rich lamb. We finished the meal with minature souffles made with manchego, parmesan and cream cheeses, paired with an alluring guava sauce that made me think of Jorge Amado's great novel, Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon, while chocolate souffles with creme anglais also spoke to the an island connected to the north. I remember Charlie Palmer talking about competing with the view from The River Cafe – all of New York. He knew his food had to be great to capture attention. As I left Pikayo, I had forgotten about the stunning museum setting. Pikayo's cuisine beats it hands down. Previous articles: Roberto Trevino: Viva Aguaviva Restaurant Michael Mina Rocks Columbus Day Special: Chubby's BBQ of Emmitsburg --> back to superchefblog