Puerto Rico’s Farm-to-Table Dining Is Gaining Steam
Photo Caption: A poké bowl on the menu at El Jangiri.
Skift Take
In the year after Maria, restaurateurs are building new relationships with local farmers and seeing more interest from customers in supporting local agriculture and celebrating food that is grown entirely on the island.
When El Jangiri opened on December 24, 2017 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, owners Natalia Rivera and Luis Castillo did not expect the poké bowl shop to be an immediate success.
As far as restaurants go, it was a pretty low-risk bet. The shop was located inside Lote 23, an 18-month-old food hall-style collection of stalls and Airstream trailers operated by chefs who champion hyperlocal concepts. There was a gym right across the street, attracting the type of customers who would support El Jangiri.
However, as Rivera explained, the seasonal, vegetable-heavy menu was far from the typical Puerto Rican diet of rice and beans. The married business partners were also opening up shop barely three months after Hurricanes Irma and Maria had ripped through the island. Electricity was just coming back to more densely populated areas; residents were barely getting back on their feet.
"We were very insecure about what we were doing," Rivera admitted. The couple also owns the year-old dessert stall ne
