SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico _ On a sultry May evening, I set off on a walking tour of this city's La Calle Loiza neighborhood. Once a seedy area that few ventured into, it is rapidly blossoming into a Caribbean cousin of Miami's Wynwood Arts District, where colorful murals decorate the facades of once dingy industrial buildings.
Tucked in between the tourist meccas of Isla Verde and Condado, Calle Loiza is a gritty ghetto turned hipster hotspot, with colorful examples of colonial architecture now housing an array of shops, bars, galleries, restaurants, and more recently, lofts and apartments.
As is frequently the case in areas such as Wynwood and La Calle Loiza, it is the artists who arrived first _ muralists, painters, sculptors _ using sidewalks and street corners as their studios. The fruits of their labor are everywhere _ from Andy Warhol-style pop art to rainbow-hued doors of the buildings themselves.
The new kids on the block, however, are artists of a different kind _ culinary artists. Over an area of seven city blocks can be found some 30 different restaurants and food trucks, offering everything from hot dog stands to high end gastronomy _ all helping to cement San Juan's growing reputation as the Caribbean's new capital of cuisine. As a result of this largesse, my walking tour quickly morphed into a tasting tour.
I started at Cafe Pierre in the lobby of the Doubletree Hotel (the only Doubletree property in the Caribbean). Appetizers, courtesy of rising chef Mayra Hernandez, were paired with the restaurant's signature libation, a tamarind crush.
Then it was on to Silk, whose exotic decor, subdued lighting and Asian-inspired menu is more reminiscent of Bangkok or Beijing than San Juan. My spicy crab salad and tuna tataki were complemented by a selection of hot and cold sakes.
From Asia to Argentina was a five-minute walk to Agarette Catalina, whose prime steaks and full-bodied red wines had me thinking I could have been in a Buenos Aires bodega.
It's important to save enough energy to check out one (or more) of La Calle Loiza's bustling bars. My favorite had to be Bar Bero, a combination barbershop and speakeasy (patrons get a free beer with a haircut).
Don't settle for a beer. Have Luis, the personable mixologist, make a cocktail especially for you. Drawling out the syllables of my name, he proudly presented me with the "Pa-trees-sia," as he called the libation he concocted for me. Composed of Woodford Reserve bourbon, Barrilito rum, egg whites, lime juice, Frangelico, house-made syrup, grapefruit bitters and a French liqueur similar to Chartreuse, it was definitely not for the novice.
I wish I could say I gamely finished my namesake drink, but one sip of it had me grabbing on to the bar for support, and deciding that maybe a beer wasn't such a bad idea after all.
