During Ally’s childhood, Cuevas often worked long hours at world-class kitchens in San Sebastian, Barcelona, Monaco, Copenhagen, San Francisco, and New York, leaving a trail of Michelin stars behind him. Back at the Cuevas house, the smell of succulent roast chicken in the oven meant dinner was going to be good, but also that dad was home: Any troubles of the school day melted away. Now Cuevas is back in his hometown of San Juan full time and he’s still working long hours and winning numerous awards. He oversees 1919 — one of the island’s most revered fine dining destinations — as well as six other restaurants for Condado Vanderbilt. Cuevas is known for his inventive cuisine and is often regarded as a leader in Puerto Rico’s local sourcing movement, a crucial matter for an island that still imports roughly 80 percent of its food supply. Still, on Sundays and Mondays he’s off, and spends much of that time with Ally, now 26 years old. They are roommates and good friends. “She is my partner in discovering new restaurants,” he says. “She loves great food and wine and has an amazing palate.” While they live to taste and are in lockstep with emerging food trends, Cuevas and Ally haven’t altered the menu much at home. Daily breakfast is a fruit smoothie and dinner is usually this roast chicken recipe with roasted vegetables and a green salad of puntarella, arugula, anchovy, and parmesan. Why mess with a good thing?
Chef Juan José Cuevas’ Roast Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
1 whole chicken 4-5 lbs.1 onion, cut into quarters1 garlic head, cut in halfSaltPepperOlive oil*Compound butter made of parsley, confit garlic, parsley, and rosemary1 Yukon gold potato, quartered1 yellow onion, minced
Directions *To make the compound butter, simply combine a few pinches of the herbs and a few cloves of garlic listed above into softened butter.
