Lee la historia en español aquí.

Juan Díaz.- The town center of Juana Díaz becomes imbued with succulent smells when La Cocina de Jannellys opens. It is a renowned family restaurant located at an old large house that dates back to the 19th century. Its specialty is criollo and international cuisine, displayed in a varied menu with more than 40 options that promise to leave a mark on the palates of its customers.

Renowned celebrities such as Ana María Canseco, Rubén Berríos, Braulio Castillo Sr., Antonio Cabán-Vale, Victoria Sanabria, Carlos Correa, and Tito Trinidad, among others, have visited the restaurant and tasted the flavor of this busy kitchen, owned by Mrs. María Meléndez and her husband Victor Zayas.

The cozy space—which still preserves its masonry walls—holds art pieces by artists and artisans of Juana Díaz. They are given a place to exhibit their respective artworks, without being charged any stipend.

The restaurant is run by about 20 employees, including the Zayas-Meléndez family. In fact, the unique flavor of the dishes is created by Doña María.

“It’s a criollo and international cuisine. During the week we make typical lunches, such as chicharrones, fried pork chunks or guanimos with cod. But at night and on weekends, we focus on more formal food, like lobster and grilled meats, which are also available all day,” said his son Manuel Alejandro Boglio-Meléndez.

“The menu has 40 dishes, from grilled meats like churrasco, filet mignon, sirloin and ribeye. The grilled steak in mushroom sauce is a favorite. Just like mamposteao rice with my mom’s touch; it’s what people like,” said the 37-year-old pastor and writer. Another of their specialties is lobster à la Jannella, “which is a whole lobster or lobster tail with cassava mofongo, stuffed with land crab salmorejo.”

“We have other seafood and octopus when available, shrimp, seafood platter and stuffed mofongo of all kinds. There’s also chicken breast stuffed with chorizo and sweet plantains. We also have options for children such as chicharrones and fried meat chunks,” she outlined.

For the weekends, according to Doña María, “I throw three different menus with rice and local land crabs, paella and oysters. I would say that our three [main] dishes are the lobster, churrasco, especially the churrasco mofongo, and the mamposteao rice.” As for the appetizers, “everything is made here.”

“We have sorullitos (corn fritters), land crab, chicken or meat turnovers and baby alcapurrias. We also have the soup of the day, such as celery, pumpkin and yautia, among others. We make appetizers for groups that we call ‘ranchero’ that bring a little bit of everything: chicharrones, mozzarella, turnovers, fried pork chunks, among other things,” said Boglio. The desserts also have Doña María’s touch. Among the options “there’s cheese and guava flans, pudding stuffed with guava, fried cheesecake with ice cream, [and] papaya candy with local cheese.”

They also have a variety of cocktails, although they admit that it is not their specialty. But, “we make our sangrias.”

The idea for this restaurant came after a dream Jannellys had, her youngest daughter, while they lived in the United States. “She was about four years old when she told us about a dream she had about a kitchen in a tree. We decided to fulfill her dream. And from then on, La Cocina de Jannellys was born,” recalled the 61-year-old woman. The concept was executed when she returned to her native Juana Díaz in 2000. María had experience in the kitchen through her late father’s business with whom she worked for many years.

However, the building was made under a mango tree at her in-laws’ patio in the Piedra Aguza sector. Then, they occupied other establishments until they had the house of their dreams, where they have remained for nearly six years. The place accommodates up to 250 people in four rooms.

“One of the rooms holds 100 people. Weddings, quinceañeras, anniversaries, wedding reunions, everything is held there. Lunch is served in the main room where the bar is. It’s rented at night and on weekends. The coffee area is for groups of 20 who want to be left in private with the decoration they want,” explained Meléndez.

“The back room can accommodate up to 60 people and is mostly used for family groups. The advantage it has is that the music that’s played on one side can’t be heard on the other. This is due to the type of structure [it is] because the walls are 30 inches thick,” she highlighted.

Finally, Manuel Alejandro highlighted that “we consider ourselves from Juana Díaz and we’d like this business to leave a legacy for this town.”

For details you can visit: La Cocina de Jannellys on Facebook and Instagram.