At the end of 2024, we came up with an idea to explain the purpose of Cuela as a brand, but also with the idea of encouraging our team to develop their skills and step out of their comfort zones. Ultimately, we want to develop our team of Baristas and Chefs to a professional level they've never experienced before. This Gastronomic and Coffee Industry can become very repetitive, but it also lends itself to use your culinary creativity without any restriction.
With this in mind, we launch our culinary event, Cuela es Café de Puerto Rico, an event in which Cuela’s Baristas and Chefs, as well as external collaborators, present their best offerings to our guests. The only requirement is that each creation has to be inspired by the history of the Puerto Rican Coffee Industry or by what identifies us as Puerto Ricans. Cuela es Café de Puerto Rico began in October 2024 with our Chef Omar Soler. Chef Soler created brunch dishes inspired in the achievements of Puerto Rican Coffee in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This is why names like El Vaticano, La Casona Mallorquina, Reyes y Papas, and La Mallorca de Corsega were used for the dishes. We also featured El Contrabando, a coffee and coconut drink created to highlight the illicit methods used at that time to market many products arriving on the island. This event was a huge success and exceeded our expectations, so we decided to revive it after the Christmas season.
Dish: El Vaticano
This past March, we relaunch Cuela es Café de Puerto Rico by inviting our colleagues from Coffee Tag PR and Vero Cortado, baristas and mixologists passionate about coffee. This time, they offered mimosas with natural juices like tamarind, passion fruit, and orange, but the afternoon favorite was Encanto's Cold Brew. An extremely refreshing drink with lime, ginger, and nutmeg, based on coffee that's been extracted in cold for 16 hours, bringing out sweeter notes. The Coffee Tag and Vero Cortado team inspired their drinks in fresh flavors to welcome spring.
Now in June, our Manager and Chef Bryan Velázquez showcased his skills with a theme that many of us can relate: The nostalgia we feel for our grandparents. Cooking played a fundamental role in Bryan's childhood, and that's why he created dishes alluding to those memories of his grandparents. Dishes like Carmen y Pablo, a combintion of tomato soup with Biscayan Codfish on a corn tortilla with a poached egg. We also enjoyed Papi Toni, a pork burger with sweet plantain, crispy Bayamón chicharrones, and a chayote and pigeon peas salad on the side. Finally, we couldn't miss the sweetness of Angelina La Abuelita. This dessert is a pumpkin belly with caramelized pecans sautéed, accompanied by coconut ice cream and marshmallows.
Dish: Angelina, La Abuelita
At Cuela, we will always strive for two things: to fulfill our purpose as a brand by showcasing the stories of our coffee growers and our identity as Puerto Ricans, and also to develop our team as professionals as much as we can. It's essential for us that they feel part of the project and that with their contribution, Cuela develops and grows as they do.
Cuela es Café de Puerto Rico is an event of development and creativity for each of our team members and it will be presented every other month for the rest of the year. Be part of this great event and witness the talent that our island has to offer in Coffee and in the Culinary sector.
We look forward to seeing you at Cuela es Café de Puerto Rico!
