The Hipster in Puerto Rico: Jose Enrique Restaurant

Jose Enrique, the eponymous San Juan, Puerto Rico restaurant owned and run by the vaunted chef of the same name (in 2013, he became the first Puerto Rican chef to be named a semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation award in the category of “Best Chef South” and, in the same year, was the first Puerto Rican to be included in Food & Wine’s prestigious Best New Chefs list) is the kind of place that is at home in Puerto Rico’s La Placita, but could also be in Bushwick, NY or LA’s Los Feliz. That’s because Jose Enrique is cool.

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Not in the ‘I set trends and you shall follow them’ way, but in the ‘I’m doing my thing and you can get with it or not‘ way. The latter approach is definitively Puerto Rican: a little bit chilled out beach ethos; a little bit island-off-the-mainland scrappy; and a lot fun-, family-, and friend-focused.

There is a hipster vibe at Jose Enrique. Older Puerto Rican men in pressed white shirts and suits and European tourists sit comfortably alongside San Juan’s locals. Its guests are a mixed bag, neither exclusively trendy nor suburban. Some look as if they’ve just come from a day spent surfing; others are on a date. [pagebreak]

Those who haven’t been before approach the restaurant with confusion. ‘Is this it?’ they wonder. Though a part of La Placita, San Juan’s fresh food market in the morning turned bustling restaurant and bar hotspot at night, Jose Enrique sits on a quiet street off the main drag and its exterior suggests a knock at the door might produce your abuela in an apron.

Get closer, however, and it becomes clear that this isn’t your grandma’s house. The porch swells with guests waiting to be seated, there is always a wait, but it’s worth it, and the white noise symphony of talk, laughter, and music drifts out toward the Plaza’s center each time someone enters and exits.

Inside, small wooden tables line the walls and waiters rush between them carrying small plates and a single, enormous chalkboard menu; there are no individual menus at Jose Enrique, only a daily-changing list of delights. [pagebreak]

The bar, small and shaped in a fashion that invites roaming and mingling among patrons, faces a large window to the open kitchen; in fact, sitting at the bar puts you within ten feet of the chefs working the kitchen’s line. This, combined with the large, open space behind you, instead of filling up the restaurant with as many tables as possible, Jose Enrique boasts a wide path from the entrance to the bar, creates a kind of live theater experience wherein you, as a guest, are a central character. There’s a hustle and whir to the energy, but also a relaxing, low-key quality. Cool is the best, though admittedly generic, word to describe it.

As for the food, it’s fresh, creative (but authentic), and clean. Because the menu changes nightly, don’t count on ordering the must-try dish you read about on Yelp. Spontaneity and variety are part of the experience. Still, there are mainstays that appear in various sizes and preparations. Best are suckling pig, any iteration of bacalao (from salads to fritters) and an incredible whole dorado (served with salsa criolla and tostones on the night I was there).

In an interview with The Latin Kitchen following his 2013 James Beard Foundation nomination, the chef explained that his focus was on food, drinks, and creating an environment where guests can enjoy and experience Puerto Rico and its cuisine. “The restaurant is lively, the music is loud, the people are loud, people are having a good time…they know they can sit back and have fun,” he said, adding that his food is “ingredient-driven, fresh, and embodies the island’s location.”

We’ll drink to that, and so should you.