Flavor like Crazy

march / april.2009 santÉ Magazine, Cover Story
by Ashley Brenon

As a kid in Puerto Rico, Chef Wilo Benet looked forward to school lunches of rice and Spam served with canned peaches. "I would take the juice from the peaches and dress the rice. The whole salty and sweet thing has to be my most -- my most -- favorite flavor concoction," he says. Since those early days, Benet earned a degree from the Culinary Institute of America; founded the critically acclaimed fine-dining spot Pikayo at the Puerto Rican Museum of Art in San Juan; opened a more casual restaurant, Paya, in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico; and served as guest judge on Bravo's Top Chef. His third restaurant, Varita Woodburning Rotisserie, opened in February. All of these experiences have refined his palate, but not so much that he rejects his roots.

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