Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Café Cala'o
CAFE $
( Pier 2; muffins $2.50)
It looks just like any other small coffee bar you might roll into in
Chicago or Seattle, but in reality Café Cala'o is very different. There are two main reasons
for this: the Puerto Rican coffee - which is handpicked from various small farms in the
central mountains - is smooth, earthy and not at all bitter, and the people who confect it are
trained experts who know as much about coffee as an oenologist knows about wine.
Old San Juan Farmers Market
MARKET $
(
www.mercadoagricolanatural.com
; 8am-1pm Sat)
Stop by the courtyard of the
Museo de San Juan to pick up some organic local produce or coffee, nibble on homemade
chocolate, bread or cheese, peruse the handcrafted gifts or tuck into an inexpensive brunch.
Ayurvedics
VEGETARIAN $
( 787-721-4369; 304 Fortaleza)
Vegetarian self-caterers should made a beeline here -
it's one of the best health-food stores on the island.
CONDADO
Pikayo
FUSION $$$
( 787-721-6194;ConradSanJuanCondadoPlaza,999AvAshford;dishes$30-42;
dinner)
Wilo Benet is the island's very own Gordon Ramsay (without the expletives),
a celebrity chef par excellence who has uncovered the soul of Caribbean cooking by in-
fusing colonial-era Puerto Rican cuisine with various African and Indian elements. Benet's
showcase restaurant, recently relocated to the sleek Conrad hotel, continues to be a splurge-
worthy delight.
PERLA
Dine inside a literal architectural oyster at
Perla( 787-977-3285; La Concha,
1077 Av Ashford; dishes $22-38; dinner)
, where hand-blown glass lamps cast a
flattering glow and pearlescent walls undulate and echo into the nighttime sea. The
