Saborea nets $1.7M for Puerto Rico economy
Culinary delights such as this appetizer of fresh fish over melon presented by La Casa, the restaurant the Royal Isabela Resort, were plentiful during the Saborea event.
Last weekend, Puerto Rico became the mecca for some 7,000 food enthusiasts who descended upon a beachfront bluff at Escambrón beach to savor the best dishes and drinks from the island’s culinary elite who gathered for Saborea de Puerto Rico.
The event’s 6th edition generated more than 2,700 hotel room nights and pumped more than $1.7 million into the local economy through direct and indirect spending, event organizers at the Puerto Rico Hotel and Tourism Association said Thursday.
“We concluded an event that showed the world the kindness of our culinary culture, Puerto Rico shone this past weekend and we reaffirmed that we are the culinary capital of the Caribbean,” said PRHTA President Clarisa Jiménez. “All our initiatives like ‘Bubbles and Bites,’ the ‘Privileged Dinner’ and the culinary festival at Escambron beach attracted a total of 7,000 people, which represents total success.”
Attendees spent the weekend experiencing cooking demos performed by more than 60 local and international chefs, delicious samplings of local restaurants, the best wines, beers and liquors.
This year’s celebrity chefs lineup included Chef Kevin Sbraga, winner of the seventh edition of Top Chef DC; Jennifer Behn, winner of the second edition of MasterChef on Fox Network and Julio Lazzarini, a prominent Puerto Rican chef who was a finalist on the program Chopped on the Food Network.
The next edition of “Saborea Puerto Rico: A Culinary Extravaganza” is scheduled for April 3-6, 2014.
This event was not advertised at all here in NY state.
Next time, don’t keep it a secret!! You need tourism!!