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Coamo.- More than 300 dishes have been served, and not even the hungriest diners have been able to conquer the mountain of deliciousness contained in “Las de Cayey”; a food challenge that attracts dozens of diners to the restaurant Patria Fondita Criolla in Coamo.

This is a contest created through social media that invites groups of up to 10 people to eat all the food served on the immense tray, which includes chicken cracklings, fried meat, breaded shrimp, garlic yuca, mofongo balls, tostones (fried green plantains), sorullitos (corn fritters), and fries.

Whoever conquers the challenge avoids paying the bill and receives a bucket of beers as a gift. It sounds easy, but according to businessman David Reyes Viera, no one has completed it since he started the curious proposal about four years ago.

The 42-year-old man is responsible for the success of this culinary innovation concept, which joins three other establishments: La Ceiba, Carnaval, and Pe Erre Bembé & Sabrosura, in Coamo and Santa Isabel.

However, despite the adept management of the four restaurants, which collectively employ nearly a hundred people, Reyes Viera never even imagined that he would fully dedicate himself to this industry.

His first restaurant was La Ceiba, which he acquired “without knowing anything about this industry; I had never owned a restaurant before, I didn’t know how to cook.”

“This restaurant will turn 15 years old in June, and I still don’t know how to cook. But we dove into that adventure. I’ve always said that the concepts or businesses I’ve worked on have come to me by accident,” he emphasized.

Before taking over the establishment located on Highway PR-153, he ventured into businesses such as clothing and perfume distribution, music production, and ownership of Christian bookstores, among other experiences he accumulated before discovering his true passion.

“This was a restaurant, it has always been called La Ceiba. The previous owner had a Mexican concept. There was an established staff here at the time, they stayed for a while and then left. But there was a restaurant I used to frequent back then called El Mesón; they closed down and I brought in the three cooks,” he revealed, thanking his partner Nicole González for her support.

“I did everything back then; I opened early to clean up, picked everything up, I was the bartender, waiter, served the dishes, washed dishes. That’s how the dynamics started. Little by little, I recruited the same friends and family who are still here. That’s how we learned, the hard way as they say. I didn’t study this industry, nor have I ever taken a business class,” explained the son of Silvia and Pedro.

He also emphasized that the concept of La Ceiba is family-oriented and specializes in mofongos. Although he left his mark on the creation of this traditional dish.

“Our best-selling dish of all time is ‘El Tallo,’ a mofongo with ripe plantain, skirt steak, chicken, and mushroom sauce. After that, there’s the ‘Bacongo,’ which is a trifongo (mofongo made with three types of vegetables), but instead of mixing it, we made it in layers, as if it had three visible layers of flavors. We made it with Alfredo sauce and started using toppings; for example, adding bacon bits and pieces of ripe plantain, which were things that weren’t commonly seen,” he recalled.

“The most recent addition is the ‘Pionongo,’ a mofongo inspired by the traditional pionono. It’s a ripe plantain mofongo stuffed with ground beef. What happens is that we put bacon around the mofongo and ground beef on top,” he mentioned, pointing out that “La Ceiba offers over 50 different dishes. but when it comes to mofongo, the customer can choose the flavor, mix, meat, and sauce, so the variations are endless.”

Despite the acclaim he has garnered, David saw the need to open a second space because La Ceiba was already at full capacity. According to the restaurateur, up to 120 diners can be accommodated there.

He channeled his enthusiasm towards developing Carnaval, located on the border between Santa Isabel and Coamo, with a 220-person capacity.

“It’s another concept in the realm of criollo cuisine, but different. We leaned towards stuffed chicken breast and grilled meats. We celebrated our 10th anniversary there in December. It’s a concept with more entertainment, featuring live music,” emphasized the Coamo businessman, highlighting that “then came Patria Fondita Criolla Creativa. It’s more for chinchorreo (hopping between multiple small food and drink establishments).”

Finally, Pe Erre Bembé & Sabrosura also arrived in Santa Isabel.

“I’m still young, but now my inspiration to keep going are my three children. I can’t take all the credit because I couldn’t do this alone. It’s always a team effort; the performance and final outcome depend on all the pieces working together in harmony and having our thoughts as aligned as possible with everyone,” he concluded.