Meagan Drillinger
Puerto Rico is staking its place in the global culinary world with the launch of the Puerto Rico Wine & Food Festival. Running from April 3 to 6, 2025, this event will be hosted at San Juan's La Concha Resort, with additional experiences taking place at locations around the island. The festival aims to celebrate Puerto Rico's gastronomic heritage while showcasing its evolving food and beverage industry.
Created by entrepreneur and restaurateur Robert Weakley, the inaugural festival will feature local and national chefs, sommeliers, mixologists and wineries. Under the guidance of host chef Mario Pagan, whose restaurant portfolio includes Mario Pagan, La Central and Raya by Mario Pagan in Puerto Rico, attendees will be able to experience the island's flavors and culinary diversity.
"The inaugural Puerto Rico Wine & Food Festival will shine a spotlight on the incredibly vibrant and diverse food and beverage scene on the island," said Weakley. "Our teams have been working hard to create an exciting line-up of all-inclusive culinary events, tastings, meet and greets and unique festival experiences."
Part of the festival's aim is to drive economic growth on the island by promoting locally sourced products, including Puerto Rican coffee, fresh produce and artisanal goods. Local businesses can showcase their products to attendees.
"Gastronomy is an intrinsic part of our culture, and the Puerto Rico Wine & Food Festival will provide the perfect venue to showcase the fusion of cultures that have created our creative and elevated gastronomic scene," Carlos Mercado Santiago, executive director of the Puerto Rico Tourism company, said in a statement.
The festival arrives at a time when Puerto Rico's culinary landscape is flourishing. "Puerto Rico has been primed for a major culinary festival for years," Weakley said. "Bringing the inaugural Puerto Rico Wine & Food Festival to life has been a labor of love for the past several years, working with the local government and tourism teams, to the local chefs, media and tastemakers."
"Every day, more and more innovative restaurants are highlighting Puerto Rico's agriculture through their dishes," said Davelyn Tardi Reyes, director of public relations at Discover Puerto Rico. "Tasting menus that showcase local and seasonal ingredients are giving visitors a deeper appreciation for Puerto Rico's food traditions. And with seven Puerto Rican chefs and one bar named semifinalists for the 2025 James Beard Awards -- the most ever for the island -- there's no better time to celebrate the innovation and talent shaping our food scene."
The scene in San Juan
San Juan's dining scene, in particular, has gained international recognition, with chefs pushing the boundaries of traditional Caribbean cuisine while incorporating global influences. The chef at restaurant El Jibarito in Old San Juan, for example, serves a menu that is steeped in Taino tradition (the indigenous culture of the island). Their asopao (stew) incorporates passed-down, local recipes that include root vegetables and tropical herbs.
Meanwhile, the iconic 1919 Restaurant at the Condado Vanderbilt Hotel, helmed by Michelin-starred Juan Jose Cuevas, showcases Puerto Rico's culinary modern side through locally sourced tasting menus featuring items like local chayote salad, swordfish with grapefruit balsamic emulsion and cochinillo with harissa vinaigrette.
All-inclusive tickets for the festival are now on sale, and La Concha Resort will be launching exclusive packages for guests in the coming weeks. Attendees can also be on the lookout for other festival partners throughout San Juan and beyond, with details coming in the next few weeks.