Cafe Bili

Esperanza Rising

Cilantro Aioli and Pulled Pork Empanadillas

144 Calle Flamboyan
Esperanza

Vieques, Puerto Rico

(787) 741 1382

The town of Esperanza on the Island of Vieques is a strip of hot, pitted pavement just off a harbor with lovely little boats. The locals seem to include a lot of stateside American dropouts from the Jimmy Buffett days and their version of island culture sits astride a completely Spanish-speaking surfside drop-out lifestyle that is all-at-once completely compelling and repelling simultaneously.

On the sweep and curve into town by macro 1980s-sized GMC van/taxi, Cafe Bili sits sweetly on the side of the road, almost idly by, hoping someone will notice her and get her a mention in the New York Times. A terrific lunch awaits inside because of the CIA-trained chef, Eva Bolivar celebrates Puerto Rican cuisine with a flair that elevates Bili to one of my favorite restaurants in Vieques. Formerly, the personal chef to the former Governor of Puerto Rico,

Eva has a way with making cuisine out of dishes as simple as Bolillos and Quesadillas. While not Mexican, she takes the food most gringos know and turns them into haute delights right on the side of the road, so you can soak up the local color and the “Man, it’s hace calor” sunshine.

Speaking of hot, her house-made hot sauce, a Puerto Rican “thing,” here, is out of this world.

Made of habanero, I fully expected to not be able to eat it. But it was smooth and spicy. Like her cilantro aioli that came with the carmelized onion and pulled pork quesadilla, I was impressed how she imparted flavors like cilantro in the mayo and intensified the flavor without compromising the final product. It wasn’t stuffed with chopped cilantro; it was mayo swimming in cilantro flavor. It was still white, not green. How did she do it? I wondered. It was almost as if the cilantro had been pressed through each cell of the oil and egg blending process, not cloying and lumpy, but bright, and fresh.

The Spanish-speaking lady next to me was enjoying the skirt steak sandwich, as were Sheila and Bill just in from their scuba dive. They were from Columbia, MO, a college town that has had a burst of about eight new restraurants worth eating at over the past handful of years.

Sheila and Bill were connoisseurs, their son had recently been to CIA and was working in the trade, and he had brought them up to speed. And so, there you are. It appears that even in the middle of nowhere Puerto Rico, on a strip where drop outs and homeless come to soak up the sun in their latter days, food aficianados congregate, create, and stimulate culinary excitement. I was so impressed, but then Bili is a great example of how great food has infiltrated the far corners. I never thought I’d say it, but thank god for cable TV…all those cooking shows kickstarted by the great St. Julia; it worked!  Even in a land faraway, there is cilantro-infused aioli and rich, fabric-textured pies filled with savory fruit jellies.  Oh, yes, about those pies…

I cannot recommend highly enough the starters Eva makes called EMPANADILLAS. The brie and tomato jelly ones I had were out of this world; shaped like a Hostess cherry pie and with a similarly crunchy crust, these boys were creamy, gooey and full of tomato flavor.

And I had arrived when the island had experienced a power outage! Did she warm these on an open grill in the back? Perhaps everything was prepared in a gas oven, but there were grill marks on most of my food. I cannot imagine how she did this successfully; perhaps she wrapped everything in tin foil. But somehow nothing was burned or wrecked by the electricity-free cooking.

Lunch here is just perfect for a lost afternoon on this rather undeveloped island. With Cafe Bili’s windows open and the breezes off the Caribbean side of the island blowing through, you are sitting in a delicious waiting room on your way to culinary heaven. The best part of my Vieques journey was that upon my return, my friend Shane informed me that he had been there too and that while Bili was good, there was yet another joint just down the rickety-rackety Esperanza strip called Conuco that was even better. How is that even possible?

Another trip to Vieques is obviously required.

Cafe Bili
Food Quality
Drinks
Not a lot of wines by the glass for lunch, but I did get a Salta Torrontés!
Environment
Price
$20 per person, depending on what drinks you order

Overall