After eight successful years at the Ritz-Carlton San Juan Hotel, BLT Steak has added four new courses to its renowned menu. BLT Steak’s creator, Chef Laurent Tourondel, in combination with BLT Steak San Juan’s Chef de Cuisine, Johnattan Hernández, have created new menu additions that seek to integrate local ingredients. These dishes will be a permanent addition to the menu without eliminating crowd favorites like the “Porterhouse” and the “Tuna Tartare”. Last week, a select group of media was invited to taste the new menu creations by Chef Hernández that featured exquisite wine pairings chosen by BLT’s sommelier Adrián Roman.
The first course consisted of a blue crab salad with a local tamarind dressing, hearts of palm, and a slice of grapefruit paired with the crisp and full flavored Veuve Cliquot champagne. The refreshing salad was beautifully complemented by the tamarind’s hint of sweet and sour notes.
Since Chef Hernández’s specialty is fish, the new menu features two fish dishes. First up was a local grilled snapper with pea guacamole, cilantro vinaigrette, and a radish salad, once again paired with Veuve Cliquot champagne. The versatile tangy and citric cilantro and lime dressing combined perfectly with the tender and flavorful snapper. This vibrant and light dish was definitely one of my favorites.
Next up was the swordfish steak with piperade sauce, chorizo (from local distributor Alcor Foods), and cilantro. The dish was paired with a deliciously brisk glass of Bourgogne Chardonnay by Joseph Drouhin. If you’re not a fish lover, don’t worry, the menu features a Colorado lamb chop with orange candied chimichurri and rosemary chermoula with and exquisite wild mushroom ragout that was our favorite dish of the whole meal. The myriad of spices in the chermoula proved to be the perfect condiment to the lamb chop and provided a delightful hint of spice to the meat. The wild mushroom ragout enlivened the dish with a nice earthy flavor and texture. A definite must have when visiting BLT. It was paired with a glass of the decadent Clos Margalaine Margaux by Philipe Porcheron which brought out amazing flavor notes in the dish. The tasting ended with a sweet finish provided by a succulent chocolate petit four.
At the end of the tasting, we had the opportunity to sit down with Chef Hernández and get to know him a little better. An alumni of the Art Institute of Philadelphia with over 12 years of experience in the industry, he worked as a cook at BLT Steak in its beginnings before leaving to pursue opportunities in the Bankers Club, OOF Restaurants, and Al Sur, among others. He was also a part of the Puerto Rico Culinary Team in 2007. He returned last year to BLT as Chef de Cuisine. His inspiration behind the new menu items was to incorporate local ingredients to classic french dishes, thus, adding a latin flair to the same. His favorite dishes at BLT Steak are the Tuna Tartare appetizer and the Short Rib entrée. Finally, his favorite cocktail at BLT is El Mejicanito.
[su_note note_color=”#e5e4e2″ class=”infobox1″]Location:
The Ritz Carlton San Juan Hotel,
6961 Los Gobernadores Avenue, Carolina, Puerto Rico[su_gmap address=”The Ritz Carlton San Juan Hotel”]
Telephone: (787) 253-1700
Payment Methods: All major credit cards accepted
Parking: Yes.[/su_note]
