Searching for a taste of home comes down to memory and how even a certain smell can transport a person back to a different place and time. Amy and Nicolas Rivera have tried to create that at Viejo San Juan, their new Puerto Rican restaurant on NY Route 7 in Brunswick just before Troy. Amy grew up in North Bennington and graduated from Mount Anthony Union High School. She says, for her, food is about expanding horizons but also finding your own path.
Amy explains that her partner Nicolas was a chef in Puerto Rico at many different resorts and attended culinary school there. He wanted to open a restaurant after many years of working for other people. Amy explains that she had been as a waitress at Poncho's, the Mexican restaurant on Hoosick Road near Walmart. “We both worked there but he wanted to open his own place.” Before their current space, they were working in another building for two years in East Troy. They found their new location on Hoosick Road three months before they opened. Nicolas then did all the remodeling to make it more authentic to their vision. It had previously been a Subway location and before that Amy says it was a restaurant called “Dinner Time” which did more farm-to-table cuisine.
“Right now with Puerto Rican food, you don't find anything like this in Vermont," Amy continues. "I have had a lot of customers from Bennington already that come here. Some people maybe come only once a month, but they buy a lot of stuff.” She says beyond their food, which is both for take-out and dine-in, she offers groceries akin to what could be found in Puerto Rico and drinks including Malta, a Puerto Rican favorite.
Growing up in North Bennington to a half-German father and a French/Canadian mother, Amy ate mostly American food. She said her dad tried to cook some Asian food but she didn't have sense of the wider swath of culinary possibilities until she moved to Troy about 12 years ago, just to try something different. She began working at Poncho's and stayed there for about 10 years. “And I got used to the food, and then being with him [Nicolas].”
Amy says the restaurant gets a lot of people, not just from Vermont, but from places like Amsterdam and Schenectady, because people are looking for an authentic Puerto Rican experience. “A lot of people tell me they're looking for authentic Puerto Rican food, but even in this area, it is mostly Dominican [food].”
As Amy is speaking, a lady and her husband from Bennington come in and order chicken pinchos. “So that is a BBQ chicken skewer, made with boneless chicken thigh. And it comes with garlic toast, which is like authentic [in the Puerto Rican experience].” Amy says they can do shrimp skewers as well as well as pork when it is available.
The couple who came in were Jordan and Jessica Rovichaud. Jessica owns and operates Bespoke Salon Suite in downtown Bennington. Jessica says she tells all her clients to visit Viejo San Juan. Since her family is actually from Puerto Rico, Jessica says the chicken pinchos give her that memory and taste of her country while still being local. Jordan, her husband, is not from Puerto Rico but says that Amy and Nicolas' restaurant is the closest locally that he and his wife have found to exactly what the island cuisine in PR is like. Jordan said he likes the Tripleta sandwich which literally means “triple”. It is made with three meats(seared cube steak [bistek], roast pork shoulder [pernil] and sliced ham). Jessica says the mofongo is “ridiculous” in the best way. Mofongo is green plantains fried and mashed together with butter, garlic and salt, in a salsa criolla (which is like a red relish) and served with lettuce, tomato and mayo ketchup. The customer can then add a protein including chicken, steak, shrimp, pork or fish to it. The Rovichauds discovered Viejo San Juan just driving by on their way to get inventory for the salon in Albany. “From when we first saw the sign, we were so excited for them to open,” Jessica adds. “We stop every time we're driving through.” She says it makes her feel like she is back in Puerto Rico. Jordan also says the portions are always more than one meal too. “You usually have leftovers.”
Amy continues that they do have a burrito that has Mofongo as well. She says that seems to be getting really popular. “I feel like people are leaning towards that one if they are looking for something familiar so I offer that with mofongo inside [in addition to the protein].” Amy says she got the idea watching YouTube videos of food trucks in Puerto Rico.
In terms of portions, she says that is just reflective of what it is like in Puerto Rico. “It's just like expected since they eat a lot of rice there all the time so it's expected to have a large portion,” she adds. Amy says that her husband will sometimes do a shrimp mofongo with lobster when available, at a slightly higher price point. She says it was just something he decided to try. He has also tried a sauce with papaya and Cajun spice for their shrimp mofongo. “And it was really good!” Amy exclaims. Both items are currently on the menu.
Amy says they also serve crispy fried bacalaitos which is a salted fried cod fish. She explains that while the fish is salted, it is also not too fishy as one would expect. She says some people even say, “Oh? There's fish in this?” Amy adds that it is almost indiscernible because of the seasonings that they use. “You have little bits of cilantro and bell pepper and onion cooked into it. So when you bite into it, you taste different flavors.”
Amy says most of their dishes aren't seasonal (save for maybe the lobster) and that she tries to keep the menu consistent. “Like for a few months, I couldn't find any red snapper fish. That was supposed to be consistent item for the beginning but now we just got that back in stock and it has been a big seller." For their red snapper dish, they take a whole red snapper and deep fry it with flour and seasonings and then serve it with a choice of mofongo or tostones. The fish and the mix is placed on top of a banana leaf with a bed of lettuce, tomato, lime and mayo ketchup along with a mojito sauce, cilantro, oil and garlic.
Another older couple walks in, likely having just deciding to stop on a whim to try the restaurant. After they leave, Amy explains: “They got one of our combinations which are always the same size.” With the combinations, it is (again) a large portion. The proteins can be roasted pork, beef stew or stewed chicken. They also have the chicken pinchos available in the combinations. “So you could do a combination with whatever one of those entrees you'd like.” The customer will then choose a rice, which is always given in ample supply.
Amy says they always have white rice with or without beans or rice with gondules, which are pigeon peas. They also have a third rice option which is usually a special. That can usually be yellow rice or black bean rice. There is also the choice of a side of either yuca, cabbage or plantains. The portion again is exceptional and well worth the price. Their hours are specific though, being open only four days a week (Thursday through Sunday) usually from 11 a.m. until around 8 p.m. But they found just shifting forward made a difference. “When we first opened, we were opening at 10:30 a.m. and we were only open until 6:30 p.m. but we realized that a lot of people wouldn't come until later, so our first hour was wasted. And when we closed at 6:30 p.m., a lot of people told us they couldn't make it in time after work or after school.”
Being on the main drag on Hoosick Road would seem to be an undeniable traffic booster for a restaurant but they still need to get the word out. “To be honest, we just saw [originally] that this place was for rent." The initial restaurant location they set up in South Troy didn't work out but it was closer to where they live. Amy does explain that they were having trouble getting people to come into their current restaurant because their sign is in the middle of their parking lot. “That is unfortunately where the town has let us put it because you can't put it on the side of the building. It has to be flat on the building if it's in the front.” That said she was able to put a Puerto Rican flag out front which has helped. “And then a lot of more people started coming in.” She says they also have built a big Puerto Rican chair in the parking lot. “Because a lot of people said, 'Oh, the lot looks empty.' So we put that there hoping people would see it.”
This kind of artistic expression is something that has been part of Amy's life since being in North Bennington. Her husband also has a knack for building having previously worked in construction as well.
Amy says she was always interested in art, more with drawing and painting. ”I took a lot of art classes while I was at Mount Anthony with Jason Bray...he was the art teacher. I took as many art classes as they allowed me for my extra credits.” Amy says she always enjoyed cooking in the house but never thought of culinary as a career. When she was in North Bennington, she enjoyed making cakes, different cookies and desserts. She made desserts in the beginning at Viejo San Juan but time got away from her. “I'm hoping to do some more again.”
It is also balancing family and work with the couple having young children. They have also built an ambiance inside the restaurant which is very comforting. Initially, when they first came into the space, there was an open wall area. Nicolas was able to build up a new wall and created new counters and cement countertops. He also did a lot of the painting.
Amy adds that the mural on their wall with the mosaic, they made with their kids. “So he made the frame and then me and my kids filled it in,” she smiles. The signs also reflect that authentic Puerto Rican experience. ”He was trying to make it look like Old San Juan in Puerto Rico...how the buildings look and everything.”
Amy says she would definitely like to be able to draw more people in to Viejo San Juan. Hopefully, she adds, when and if they become better staffed, they can have more specials and more items. She would very much like to add more groceries and more fried foods like pastelillos, which are like empanadas. They are a pastry/dough made with different root vegetables and green bananas and then stuffed with meat and then fried. “So we definitely want to more items.”
Amy then shares a memory of a man the previous day that came into their restaurant. “He's Puerto Rican, and he said, 'You just don't find food that tastes like it's from Puerto Rico here.'" She says he said their restaurant is the only one he's found that sizes up. “And he says he has eaten at all the restaurants in the area including Albany," Amy explains. "Ours is the only one that he feels tastes like you would find in Puerto Rico.”
But for those just wanting to try something new, Amy says “I think a lot of people are just curious just to try us, because we are new. But once they try us...and usually they start with a combination...then they come back. And once they're used to it, they begin to try new things.”
Viejo San Juan is located on 697 Hoosick Road in Brunswick on New York Route 7. Their phone number is 518-286-7128 and they are open Thursday to Sunday from 11 a.m to approximately 8 p.m.
