A Dinner At Chef Wilo Benet's Pikayo Restaurant

June 10. 2010

Hey there! Cliff here! While y'all wait on me to put together my recap of the new Top Chef: D.C., here's a morsel to keep those hunger pangs at bay ...


Last week, on the occasion of my parents' 50th wedding anniversary party in San Juan, I had the occasion to finally hit Pikayo, the restaurant of famed Puerto Rican Chef Wilo Benet. Benet, best known (to folks like me who only know what they see on Bravo) as the guest judge for the finale of Season Four of Top Chef  and as a contestant on Season One of Top Chef Masters.

Being Puerto Rican myself, it's always a huge delight to see fellow Boriquas on TV, especially on Top Chef. (Of course, it's always a bitter pill to swallow when they crash and burn before making it to the end. But I still hold out hope.)

Now, a couple of years ago, right after the end of Top Chef: Chicago, my partner and I attempted to go to Pikayo back when it was located in the lobby of the sumptuous Museum of Art of Puerto Rico. But, as luck would have it, the day we had set aside to eat there they were filming some program for the Food Network and my plans were foiled.

Later, hearing of my plight, a cousin in Puerto Rico did me the immeasurable solid of getting me Chef Wilo's cookbook, Puerto Rico True Flavor.

Of course, in between not being able to find typical Puerto Rican ingredients in Central Ohio and that nasty "still can't cook" thing, I haven't attempted any of the recipes in there. Yet.

So, with all this in mind, on this trip we were bound and determined to eat there. The first thing we learned is that the restaurant has since moved to the spectacular Hotel Conrad in the Condado section of San Juan. (The lobby and bar of the hotel itself is are works of art and not something you'll want to miss.)

As it happened, we couldn't get anyone to go with us, since the place is rather well-known for its sky-high, fine dining prices. And since Puerto Rican cuisine is generally thought of as inexpensive home cooking-style food, my folks simply could not fathom paying $37 for a bistec encebollado (Puerto Rican skirt steak with onions) when it normally would go for under $12 anyplace else on the island.

Hence, we went alone. But what a treat it was when we walked in the door and found the Chef sitting at the bar.

"Chef?"

Yes, it was him. And he could not have been kinder or more gracious. I told him about my Top Chef recap blogs, All Top Chef, my previous attempt to dine at his restaurant, his cookbook ... and my persistent inability (or sheer terror) to cook a damn thing. Naturally, he suggested I try recipies from his cookbook. And I all but promised I would. When I mentioned that we've used the premier all-time best-selling Puerto Rican cookbook Cocina Criolla, by Carmen Valldejuli, now in it's one-millionth pressing, he remarked that those kind of sales are the things dreams are made of.

After our friendly chat was done, we were seated in the elegant, modern and clean dining room and attended to by the dapper and friendly wait staff. (As it was a Thursday during off-season, we had the place all to ourselves. ... Also, I had forgotten that 7:30 p.m. really is way too early to be considering dinner in Puerto Rico. The crowd finally started arriving somewhere close to 9 p.m.

After examining the menu, we discovered that (as had been noted in online reviews) that class of Fiji water that had been so conveniently poured for us would be added to our bill at $2 a pop. (Not that I minded terribly, but I really have never seen that as an automatic thing anywhere before.)

And while we both lusted after many of the traditional Puerto Rican dishes on the regular menu, the sticker shock really did take hold. I was really eager to see what magic this great chef could perform that would transform a traditional toston (fried plantain) into something that was that, er, pricey?

So, we opted to order off the more reasonably priced prix fixe menu.

After our amuse and cocktails (I had a traditional daiquiri, seeing as it's a PR creation), our first course arrived.


I ordered the Portuguese Octopus, with Granny Smith Apple and Ver Jus Vinaigrette. It was delicious and the chef managed to counteract the usual chewiness of the octopus by slicing it very thinly. And the acid of the vinaigrette played off the tartness of the apple.


My partner ordered la sopa del dia, the Potato, Garlic and Truffle Oil Soup of the Day. He reported that it was equally delicious.

For my main course, I ordered the Double Cut Pork Chop on a bed of Risotto de Gandules and Fricasee Sauce. Here, I really saw a hint of the traditional PR cookery in one of these fine dining dishes, as the gandules (pigeon peas) are a staple on the island. And paired with the pork chop, which was, without question, the best I have ever had in my life, the dish was a home run.


My partner ordered the Chicken Breast with Truffle Cheese & Oven Dried Tomato Puree. As with the other dishes, he adored it and ate up every morsel with gusto.


For dessert, I opted for the Cheese Flan. Now, normally flan is not my thing at all. I've had all kinds of flan and, for one reason or other, the traditional custard dish doesn't do it for me, either for the taste or the texture. This flan, though. was something else entirely. The cheese was doubtlessly the reason it was so remarkable. It tasted like the greatest cheesecake you've ever had in your life, with a hint of traditional flan. It was amazing!

(Side note: When it arrived on the blue plate you see above, my partner thought it was being served in a blue sauce of some kind. At which point I broke into my Fabio Viviani impression and remarked, "There is-a no blue food!")


Being the resident chocoholic in the family, my partner couldn't turn down the Chocolate Decadence with Coffee Ice Cream. Not only was it a work of art, but it was a delicious, decadent concoction which really lived up to its name.

Once dinner was over, we paid our check and, while a few dollars poorer, were smiling over our incredible meal, we headed back to Isla Verde with stories to tell and the memory of a time well spent.

(See you folks in a few days for the Top Chef: D.C. premiere recap. Should be fun!)

Cliff Visits Two Chicago Top Chef Restaurants

Hey there, hi there, ho there, Top Chefies. Cliffie here.

A few weeks ago, the hubby and I sought to escape the dreary cold of Columbus, Ohio, and headed to lovely, warm and sunny Chicago!

OK, there may have been a problem or two with that plan.

Well, it was sunny at least.

In any case, we had a good time. And it being Valentine's Day weekend (I know; I procrastinate), we decided to take in a Sandra Bernhard show and visit a couple Top Chef-related restaurants.

Our first day in town, we decided to have lunch at Top Chef Masters winner Rick Bayless' classic Frontera Grill.


Wow. I thought I had had Mexican food before. I clearly was mistaken. We knew that the Mexican cooking master had wowed the entire universe with his slow-cooked mole, so we ordered his Enchiladas de Mole Poblano, homemade tortillas rolled around Gunthorp free-range chicken, doused with Mexicos most famous mole; black beans.

Enjoy.


And, I know, when one does this kind of thing, the dining parties are supposed to order different things. But there's no way either one of us were going to deprive ourselves of that delicious experience.

Even the (ordered separately) chips and salsa were exquisite. And my drink, a Bloody Mary-esque concoction made with beer was amazing. Yum!

The next night, we headed to dinner at Sprout, the establishment of Top Chef Season Three finalist Dale Levitski.

Being as this was Valentine's Day weekend, we felt this was a very special dinner and the place didn't disappoint. (Side note: I had "friended" Dale on Facebook in advance of our dining there and wondered if there was a chance we'd get to see him to say hello. He did accept the request, but never wrote back. Not that I expected him to come out to greet folks, really. Particularly when I saw how wonderfully busy the place was. Yea for him!)

The restaurant is located near DePaul University and, being near a college, is surrounded by the usual collection of pubs, laundromats, 24-hour copy shops and parades of girls in scrunchies and pajama bottoms with words like "FIELD HOCKEY" written across their asses. So, I was (for whatever reason) surprised to enter the place and discover it to be a very fancy fine-dining establishment. Thankfully, we did dress nicely. But if we hadn't, I would have felt impossibly out of place.

The restaurant offers both á la carte and a prixe fixe dining options. But since it was a special occasion, we decided to go all-in and take the latter choice from their special Valentine's Day menu.

Again, we both made the same dining choice across the board. (I really don't like to eat off anyone else's plate and refuse to let anyone eat off of mine. It's a reaction to that being my mother's perpetual M.O. Sue me.)

We started with the truffle, a creation with radish, frissee, mushroom and a crunchy baguette. The dish was quite tasty, though the truffle's gelatinous texture could be off-putting to some. The baguette tasted a mite stale to me, but perhaps that's how it was supposed to be.

This was followed by the second course where we opted for the game dish, made up of duck, pheasant, veal and lamb with blackened peas and apricot.

This was quite delicious and a lovely marriage of various proteins. Having watched the chefs last season have to create a protein inside a protein inside a protein, I wondered how that would taste. And now I know. Yummy.

And for dessert, we had the banana dish, a delectable pastry with cashews, coconut, 5 spice and chocolate.

All in all, it was a lovely time and a great dining experience. (Oh, I did see Dale in the kitchen through that little glass door pane on my two trips to the washroom. He is looking good, but clearly was very busy back there.) It's great to see that this Top Chef vet and his sous chef, castmate Sara Nguyen, are succeeding!

Hope you enjoyed that. And happy dining!

Recap Roundup: Top Chef Las Vegas Episode 9

This week on Top Chef: Restaurant Wars! Blindfolds! Broken sauces! And bloggers...

Cliffieland on our first glimpse of Bikini Jen: "Chef Jennifer is in a bikini, which really does beg for commentary. Hence here ‘tis. Great chef. Great bod. No ass."

Jordan Baker on the good and the bad: "Let me put it this way: it may, as Tom claims, have included the best restaurant they’ve had at any restaurant during Restaurant Wars, but it was also the most boring of all Restaurant Wars."

Minx Eats on our teams: "I am dubbing the teams 'Team Bicker,' comprising Michael, Bryan, Eli, and Robin, and 'Team DickHer,' Kevin, DoucheyMike, Laurine, and Jen. Kevin is neither a dick nor a her, but I couldn't convince Jen to trade him for Eli just to make my name work out better."

Reality Check (Baltimore Sun) on Restaurant War's best improvement: "The biggest shock of Restaurant Wars this season is the cheftestants don't have to plan the decor of the restaurant! They aren't given some shoddy warehouse space or tent to turn into a restaurant."

Gather.com on Blue's bad early decision: "In a bizarre decision, the blue team chooses Laurine for front of the house. Out of all of them, I think she's the worst choice; she exudes no warmth or personableness."

People.com quickly summarizes: "Things quickly went downhill for Jen’s team. The chefs seemed stalled and distracted — and so did Laurine, who wasn’t ready for the diners when they arrived. Preparations were much smoother for Michael’s team, though he and Robin sniveled over her dessert, cursing at each other and fighting."

Entertainment Weekly on the recess-style team selection: "It was actually kind of sad when Robin had to go to the red side out of process of elimination — like the kid who gets picked last at dodgeball."

Christenam on the Voltaggio boys (about whom the bloggers are seriously mixed): "This is the point where I have to admit that the Voltaggio brothers have grown on me. I gave them a bad rep, since they seemed like such cocky jerks, but they can back it up and aren't completely douchey."

Eater LA speculates: "What I think I am saying is that whoever of the two [brothers] wins (assuming Kevin leaves the show because he gets sent on an errand to Rivendell by Gandalf) gets to sleep with Padma. Maybe one of them is the father and that's why she can't announce it?!"

Omnivore Atlanta on Jen: "Over the past few weeks Jen has cooked through illness and battled anxiety, but during last night’s famous restaurant wars, the lone female superstar actually floundered, serving not one, but two poorly executed pieces of fish."

Premium Hollywood on the Quickfire: "They would have a tag team cookoff, in which each chef had 10 minutes out of 40 to complete a dish, but while one chef was working the others were blindfolded. Man, that looked HARD."

Showtracker (LA Times) echoes my thoughts: "For a second there, it looked as though one of the contestants in the Final Four might be going home. Didn't Jennifer's eyes look weepy during her interviews? No one was happy with Kevin's undercooked lamb, either. Can you imagine the horror of watching Robin, Laurine, Eli and Mike I. outlast one of those two?"

It Happened Last Night on what was kind of great about the Quickfire: "They really do know their food and were able to puzzle out, improvise and sometimes even change the flavor profile/plan that was implemented. That was really something to watch."

Food and More (Atlanta Journal Constitution) on the three scariest words in a cheftestant's world: "'Padma wants salt!' Three words to strike terror in the heart of any chef."

Gawker on Michael V.: "Michael Voltaggio hasn't yet learned yelling 'Relax!' at somebody does not make them obey—and conversely, yelling 'Obey!' at someone doesn't make them relax. He continues to antagonize his older brother Bryan who is one day going to pummel Michael bloody."

Meal Ticket (Philly City Paper) on Jen's misstatement: "Sustainable seafood king Moonen is impressed with both plates but ends up giving the W to Blue, despite Jen accidentally referring to her protein as trout when she describes it. 'I called my black cod trout on national TV … awesome,' she laments. Don’t you sweat it, lady. I’ve called short ribs spare ribs and spare ribs short ribs so many times that I think the National Association for the Preservation of Rib Sanctity (NAPRS) has a hit out on me."

The Celebrity Cafe on the Red team's drama: "By the third course there was a considerable tension in the air between the two Voltaggio brothers, complete with underhanded and under-the-breath comments and more piercing stares from Mike. By Robin’s dessert course, it seemed like there were too many cooks in the kitchen. But wait, there were only three."

TV Squad on why TC is different: "The thing that sets Top Chef apart from similar shows such as Project Runway or Hell's Kitchen, is the level of professionalism on display. While both of those shows have strong contestants, on the whole, the pool seems more amateurish than those on Top Chef. This was clearly evident in this week's episode with the Quickfire Challenge."

Best Week Ever on knife choices: "Blank knives with two of them saying 'First Choice' and 'Second Choice'?? What happened to knives that say 'Rutabaga,' 'Shoehorn,' and 'Dennis Quaid?' ('When I drew ‘Dennis Quaid’ I wuz like, whoa!')"

Speakeasy (WSJ) on moms: "To no one’s surprise, Robin was picked last for teams. 'I’m the mom here,' Robin says, sounding exactly like our mom does when she’s aggravating her children. 'They’re stuck with me.'"

Express Night Out on what's good: "There's nothing like a bunch of nervous, arrogant chefs opening an eatery in three hours to perfume the air with anxious excitement. Then, throw in one of the coolest quickfires in 'Top Chef' history and a kindly, sweet facade from Toby Young and you've got yourself a quality episode."

Limecrete on corporate speak: "Padma tells the chefs that they can only go so far on their individual talents, and Rick agrees that they work with bunches of people, and thus need 'synergy'. I put that in quotes because corporate buzzwords annoy me, especially when they're unnecessary, and can be replaced by eminently respectable words like 'teamwork' or 'cooperation'."

Max the Girl on sibling rivalry: "'When we were kids, I was the instigator and Bryan was always trying to look out for everybody,' says Goofus, in a rare moment of self reflection. Ah, plus ca change, plus c'est le meme chose."

Procrastiblog on the producers: "Since Jennifer was the obvious second choice for elimination, and Kevin the third, one might be tempted to speculate the producers put a thumb on the scale in favor of the top contenders. Far be it from me to suggest such a thing. But one might be tempted."

Reactions to Top Chef Las Vegas Episode 8

In this episode, which was all about the art of pairing, we learned a few things: Eli lives with his parents, Robin does pilates, the Voltaggio brothers have emotions, and Kevin's good with pig. Oh, we knew that last one already? Well, he's also got a pig tattooed on his arm. Along with some other stuff.

The guest judge this round is Charlie Palmer, who everyone gushes over as an important figure in American cuisine, and who both Volt brothers worked with - Bryan for 10 years and Michael apparently not that successfully. Palmer insists he'll be impartial, though, and he probably is.

For the Quickfire Product Placement challenge, the cheftestants have to do a slightly fancier version of the vending machine Quickfire. This year, they create a pairing with one of several Alexia snacks (which actually do look pretty good, but then I like anything chip-related).

Most of the chefs turn out a dish that's at least decent, though Robin, Ash, and a nervous Jen end up on the bottom. Palmer protege Bryan, Kevin, and Eli end up on top and Eli takes the win. Unfortunately for him, this is not a high stakes Quickfire, so he gets a big fat nothing for his effort. Except satisfaction, I guess.

The Elimination Challenge is kind of fantastic, even if it is a catering challenge. The cheftestants will be creating pig-based dishes to pair with specific Pinot Noirs, serving them at Palmer's annual Pig and Pinot charity event.

As an aside: Could there be a better charity event? I don't even care who gets the money. Pig. Pinot. Perfect.

The chefs pick knives to figure out which part of the pig they'll work with, then they visit Aureole with its kickass wine storage, to taste a bunch of Pinots and pick one to pair. I am jealous.

Cut to the McMansion kitchen, where Kevin explains that he just tries to get along with everybody, and that he's sure Robin has good intentions. He nearly leaves it at that, but the steady stream of her conversation in the background is enough to nearly even push him over the edge.

Robin thinks that nobody likes her because they don't think she belongs there. That may be the case, but I'm going to guess that nobody likes her because she narrates every single second of her day. So does my three year old, but he has an excuse. He's three.

Robin and Eli get in an adorable little fight, then Robin drops the bomb: she's not here to make friends. Really, Robin? Nobody has ever said that before.

On to the elimination. There's cooking. And worrying. The Volt brothers yell at each other over plastic wrap. Then they serve a big crowd, plus Padma in a Kentucky Derby hat.

Then we get to Judges' Table, where the top tier includes the Volt brothers, Jen and Kevin. Mr. Piggy, Kevin, takes the win, along with a chance to cook at next year's event, for his pork leg pate, which incorporated hazelnuts - which happen to grow on the property where the wine is made. Man, he's good. Good thing, too, since he's got a pig on his arm and would've been embarrassed to lose this challenge.

But there are losers, too. Nobody's surprised to see Robin, Ash, and Laurine head to the gauntlet, though I was suprised that Laurine made it through for her cat foody rillettes.

Ultimately, poor sweet under-confident Ash goes home for his Mike I.-recommended chilled pork tenderloin with a cherry and corn salad. F&W's Dana Cowin found the pork clammy and all the judges agreed that the wine was a poor match for the simple food and that Ash should really listen to his instincts and not cave to other people's suggestions.

Next week: RESTAURANT WARS!!!

I loved this episode, mostly because I love pig, pinot, and Robin and Eli fights. But what did you think? Please leave a comment with your thoughts....

Top Cheffing San Francisco

by Cliff O'Neill

For those who may follow my Top Chef blog on my site (this is being crossposted posted to both Cliffieland and All Top Chef), I was recently in San Francisco on vacation. And since I've become a full-on foodie thanks to Top Chef (despite being unable to cook anything that doesn't have microwave instructions on the box) we just had to go take out a second mortgage and head out to several of the restaurants of some of theTop Chef and Top Chef Masters contesants.

Be advised that since I have, as stated, zero cooking skills, there isn't much critical discussion about the various dishes here aside from their general deliciousness.

First stop: Citizen Cake, the pastry-centric restaurant of Top Chef Masters contestant and Top Chef guest judge Elizabeth Falkner.

We all know how Top Chef contestants are forever reminding us that they are "not a pastry chef." Falkner, though, was both charged with judging the cheftestants' dessert offerings and was a contestant in her own right on the Masters show.

We started our brunch with a few "hair of the dog" drinks, a Ramos Fizz (Boodles gin, orange flower water, egg whites and vanilla sugar) and a Fleur De Sel(ery) Bloody Mary infused with jalapeño vodka.

Let's just say that they were both delicious.

While we waited for our guest, we ordered up a plate of Donut Balls With Cream Glaze and Jam. Yum.

For our main course, my partner ordered the Spinach Salad Lardon, Roasted Potatoes, Poached Egg and Mustard Vinagrette.

I opted for the Carnitas Hash, Potatoes, Tomatillo Salsa and Two Poached Eggs.

Meanwhile, our guest opted for the Hola Granola with Yogurt and Fresh Fruits.

Needless to say, everything was spectacular. In fact, it may have been the best brunch I've ever had. 'Nuff said. It's no wonder she's won all of of those awards.


A few days later, we headed to the grandest restaurant of our lives, Hubert Keller's landmark Fleur De Lys.

Keller, you no doubt know, is one of the greatest French chefs in America. And not only was he the first-ever guest chef on Top Chef and a regular guest there, he was in the top three chefs competing in this past summer's Top Chef Masters. Of course, as such, we knew that such an outing would be anything but inexpensive.

Still, it's a peak experience and one that we wouldn't be experiencing again anytime soon.

So, we put on our fancy duds and headed there. Oddly, we were stunned to see a diner eating in the main room in a t-shirt. But, these are different times, I suppose.

Oh, one other crazy-diners moment: At a nearby table, a young couple sat, clearly there to celebrate a special occasion. And when the sommelier arrived to ask for the couple's wine order, the young man asked, "What do you recommend for a birthday?"

"Well, that rather depends on your taste," the unflappable employee responded.

See, I could never do that job. I wouldn't be able to keep from offering a sarcastic response (and getting sommelierily summarily fired).

On to the meal!

The stellar experience started with an amuse bouche of vichyssoise with lemongrass and fava bean purée with Parmesan.

Next were the appetizers. My partner ordered the Symphony of Choucroute Condant With Caviar, a fois gras and smoked duck "burger," sesame beef tartare and golden panisse fries.

I ordered the Veal Sweetbread "Meuniere" with morel mushrooms, poached egg "purse," toasted brioche and veal jus.

From there, we moved on to the main course. My partner ordered the Slow-Braised Snake River Farm Waygu Beef Cheeks With Pretzel Crust on spatzle choucroute gratin and scented with a beer sauce.

My order was for the Boneless Quail Stuffed With Ris De Veau, Presented With Roasted Parsnips, young leeks and fois gras, lightly smoked apple flavored veal jus and pine nuts.

Finally, it was on to dessert. I ordered the Array Of Sorbets, presented on crispy popcorn with fresh fruits ...

... and my partner was graced with the FleurBurger, a lightly spiced dark chocolate ganache, home-made Beignet, cherry-flavored milk shake with frozen fennel ice cream "pomme frites." (The husband wishes to describe this further adding that it was "a delightful chocolate 'burger' with sorbet 'fries' in a basket made of hard-shell chocolate, a kiwi 'pickle,' mint 'lettuce' and strawberry 'tomato.'" It was. And I was very jealous. Not that my dessert wasn't stellar as well.)

Words fail me in describing this entire dinner, since I have never in my life had a meal this fantastical. If you've never been there, put it on your bucket list. Now.

Finally, after a quick stop into an actual speakeasy nearby to check in with some friends, we headed off to luna Basque, the restaurant of current season Top Chef contestant Mattin Noblia.

Now, we can't really speak to the cuisine there, since we were fresh from not only a big dinner, but the greatest meals of our lives.

So, we really only got to order an appetizer and (to be nice) dessert.

And what did Chef Mattin have as the special on his menu this evening but a variation on the ceviche dish which got him voted off the show one week earlier (on TV, anyway).


To be fair, it was a lovely dish. And Mattin (a wholly lovely individual in person) noted that he wanted to present the dish to show that sometimes one needs to work a dish for a while to get it right. And he did.

Still, it's hard to judge, since it wasn't the greatest ceviche I've ever had. (In fact, ceviche is about the only dish I've actually prepared myself sucessfully. And this tasted about the same as my own ... which isn't saying a whole lot for it.)

We fared much better with Mattin's creme brulée (not pictured). It was very tasty and as sweet as the chef.

Also, you may or may not be aware that we got to watch last week's Top Chef episode at Mattin's restaurant. And the chef (amusingly) spoiled the ending of the night's episode for us.

We did get to pick the chef's brain for a bit and he is every bit as charming and goofy as he appeared on television. He explained the whole red neckerchief thing (it's a Basque thing), his not-so-secret longing for Padma, the fact that he got along with (most) everyone on the show, superchef Joël Robuchon's odd comment about Mattin's French (it's a combination of Mattin's regional accent and the time he's been away from France) and the fact that a certain cheftestant who appears not to be very well-respected by her colleages on the show was, well, not that well-respected.

In the end, we purchased our own red neckerchiefs, which earn money for charity. And we got our pictures taken with the French chef.

And a good time was had by all.

Oh, and I lost count of all the "funny" comments we got from folks on the streets of San Francisco as we walked back to our hotel with our new neckwear still attached.