Wepa Puerto Rican Cuisine in Garden City is a recently opened restaurant that brings some previously unknown flavors to the Treasure Valley. Art Robinson has a deep connection with the island. Art said, “My mom was born and raised in San Juan. I have family in Puerto Rico still till this day and love the culture, love the history, love getting down there as often as I can every year or year and a half; and so it’s home. I get off the plane and all the sudden whatever is going on just wipes away, so the food is a huge part of that. I grew up on it; obviously it’s been part of my life for 50+ years. And I wanted to expand the horizons here in Boise”.
I discovered Puerto Rican food a few years ago, when Art catered a Downtown Boise Neighborhood Event that I attended. Enjoying Caribbean flavors from many of the islands, as well as the Latin and Cuban foods that are both similar and yet different, Art’s Puerto Rican food at the event was a fascinating look at what the island has to offer. Art sat down with The Boise Beat a year later with the news that he was opening a brick and mortar location. He said, “It was always a goal to get to a brick and mortar, it just took us a long time to find the right spot. We weren’t necessarily set on being in Garden City, Downtown Boise, or Meridian. It was just the matter of finding the right spot. As soon as I walked into the door, I said, ‘this is the place’”.
Art went on to say, “People ask where the name of the restaurant came from. So, Wepa, is a shout of joy or celebration in Puerto Rico. So when something good happens, ‘WEPA’!! And what we try to do, especially when it’s a full house, if somebody really complements the food we give out a shout and the staff knows that if one person shouts it, everybody shouts it. So we get as many people in here shouting Wepa as many times in an evening as we possibly can. This creates a little bit of a fun atmosphere”.
Art finished our first chat by sending a message to everyone in the Treasure Valley. He said, “We are here to expand everyone’s horizons to new foods. We are the only Puerto Rican restaurant in Idaho to the best of my knowledge. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but right now we are something unique and different. The public has been so overwhelmingly supportive wanting to try the food, even though they have no idea what they are having. The Latin community has been overwhelming supportive. There a lot more people from Puerto Rico or tied to Puerto Rico than I could fathom. In a few days we’ve had dozens in here”.
As we discussed the menu for the restaurant, it was easy to see that this was not going to be a one-visit task. Perusing the menu, there were so many interesting item that would appear on the menu that I wound up returning several times, even bringing some guests to get their opinion. And their opinion turned out to be “WOW”. I had been familiar with some of the popular dishes due to my travels; and it was going to be interesting to see Puerto Rico’s (and Art’s) take on them.
My first question to Art was asking what the notable dishes from Puerto Rico were. He explained, “From an entrée stand point some of our signatures are Pernil, which is a slow roasted pork shoulder that we marinated in garlic, oregano and other spices for a couple of days. For appetizers, Pastelillos, which are empanadas basically. We offer a variety of different flavors on that; again they are one of our more popular offerings. We do an awful lot of plantains dishes–we do both green plantains and yellow plantains, to get to our sweet and savory options we can do as appetizers, entrée, side dishes and stuff them with meat. A dish called Mofongo is popular also”.
I had told Art, “I’ve had Mofongo many, many times. Years ago, I’d go to a Cuban restaurant in Manhattan Beach (CA) called Havana Mania; on Tuesdays they do the pernil roast pork like you’re talking about. The owner would start it on Monday morning at his house, then bring it to the restaurant Tuesday. They also did Mofongo which I loved”. I was anxiously awaiting trying the Mofongo that Art was making.
We also talked about the ingredients Art was going to use at Wepa Puerto Rican Cuisine. Being a strong proponent of local foods and ingredients, I asked him about his sourcing. Art answered, “We do, we are still ramping up our sourcing so we do what we can with our local vendors. All our beer and wine is local. As far as food products, we are working on upping that from a local perspective as well. I’m a big supporter of local businesses. Our point of sale system, insurance, all the ancillary that I can do from a local perspective we have done”.
I asked Art about his culinary career that has led up to the opening of Wepa Puerto Rican Cuisine. He told me, “Again, I knew Puerto Rican cuisine from having grown up on it and had the love of food with it. My culinary career has been all of 3 years! I spent 25 years in the corporate world, ordinary sales and marketing positions. About 3 years ago I sort of had a midlife crisis thing and said, ‘you know what I want to do? Something totally and completely different’. At that point I was really a home chef. I’d do special occasions and when people came to visit that entire kind of thing. People would say the food is so good, you should open a restaurant. Sure, that’s what everyone says. I decided 3 years ago to put it all behind the past and start a whole new future”.
He continued, “What I tell people all the time before they even have the food, when they walk through the doors we want 1 of 2 things. They have been to Puerto Rico before and they walk in and go ‘yep I get it, looks like it’ or they have never been to Puerto Rico and say ‘I really want to go’. And if we accomplish it in the first 20 seconds before they even look at the menu or do anything else, then we feel like we have brought a little Puerto Rico to the Treasure Valley”.
When I walked into Wepa Puerto Rican Cuisine, Art had offered me a beer. This turned out not only to be a refreshing, tasty beer, but it had a story to it. Art told me, “I’m very proud of that! The folks at Twisted District Brewing are friends of mine. As we were sitting there discussing some different options, they offered to produce a beer. So I went ‘ok if you going to do that let’s make it one unique and special.’ When you think of Puerto Rico what do you think of? Pina Colada certainly came to mind. When you think of Boise Idaho what comes to mind? IPA’s. All right, let’s get the best of both worlds. The brew master there, Bud Mohr did a great job putting it together. It’s light enough for people who aren’t into hoppy. It’s got the Pina Colada flavor that’s not overwhelming though, it pairs good with food. I’ve been open 5 days and we’re into my 3rd keg. The beer is by far our best seller, I am proud of it. I’ve got to thank the guys at Twisted District Brewing for putting it together. I like it! It really taste great”.
I asked Art about what is a very popular dish and he replied, “The other dish that is very popular in Puerto Rico is called Arroz Con Pollo, it’s chicken and rice. It’s comfort food, it’s what I grew up on. With my grandma making it probably every week at least once, it’s got onions, garlic, cilantro, red bell peppers, and capers. Chicken thighs that we marinade in Sherry and other spices and that makes this pure comfort food”.
Art offered me a dish to try, my choice. I’d had bacalao (codfish) stew in Ocho Rios, Jamaica and bacalao croquettes in Boise’s famed Bar Gernika. I immediately saw that he had it on the menu and asked for a bowl. What came was a hearty, filling and creatively delicious bowl of tender fish and a broth that was absolutely wonderful. Art told me about it, saying “So this is called Bacalao Guisudo. It’s a cod fish stew. So it’s cod fish simmered in tomato sauce that’s got capers, onions, cilantro, and garlic, potato for flavor and as a side to that we offer plantains; and this happens to be Tostones, which I will describe to you as something like a nice thick chip. So it is a really hearty stew. One of my favorites, honestly delicious”.
He further talked about the plantains, saying “We have Tostones, which are savory green plantains. What we do is fry them, smash them and fry them again so it comes out like a nice thick chip. Maduros, the exact opposite. They are very sweet, we let them ripen; over ripen, so they get more caramelized as we cook them”.
For my next trip to Wepa Puerto Rican Cuisine, I brought an out of town guest and a wonderful local singer who regularly works with jazz and blues groups around the Treasure Valley. Word had already spread by then and the restaurant was packed, guests enjoying the taste of the food and the plating. Several were also taking pictures of the food, which is always a good sign. My friend the singer ordered the Mofongo, while my out-of-town guest ordered the Pernil on their recommendation.
The Mofongo came with juicy pieces of Chicharron, the delicious fried pork skin that is popular all over Latin America. If you want, it can also be ordered with an extra side of chicken, shrimp, steak or Carne Frita, which are delicious fried pork chunks. The Mofongo is basically fried green plantains, mashed together with garlic, herbs, spices, butter and the Chicharron. Although other cuisines have made their own versions, Puerto Rico gets credit as the first to make and name this popular dish. She ordered it the basic style and raved about its flavor. This is a dish everyone should try; and Wepa Puerto Rican Cafe’s version is excellent. It comes in a nice wooden dish and made a nice presentation. As I looked around, the majority of tables had at least one or more orders of the Mofungo. Art mentioned that the Mofongo is also available as a side dish.
My out-of-town guest got a nice big portion of the Pernil on his platter. Art said, “Pernil is slow roasted pork shoulder meat, well marbled flavor, is very intense, not spicy, just very flavorable. We let it set for quite some time. We do that with rice and beans as a side dish”. The pork was amazingly tender and savory. My guest was very impressed with this entree. I got the Arroz con Pollo, which was nothing short of amazing.
It was very difficult watching the desserts go by, so we got an order of Flan. The rich Caramel Custard topping the Flan was easily one of the best versions I have had. The Pina Colada Cheesecake was also a delight. They are both perfect endings to a meal. They also have a Guava Infused Chocolate Mousse. Next time I’m trying that!
My next visit was a “Before Theatre” visit before a show at the nearby Alley Repertory Theater in the Visual Arts Collective. The area in which Wepa Puerto Rican Cuisine resides has been changing into an arts, wineries and breweries area, so I walked over for a light dinner and to try something I had been craving. This was my chance to make a meal out of some interesting appetizers.
I ordered an assortment of the Pastelillos. I got A Picadillo and a Shrimp Criolla Pastellilo. Art described them, saying “The Pastelillos I mentioned earlier are similar to empanadas in other countries. Our flagship one we stuffed with picadillo, ground beef, onions, peppers, a little touch of olive, we throw in a little bit of raisins and that gives it a little hint of sweetness. It’s not an overt raisin taste to it, that’s funny in Puerto Rico some do some don’t. It all depends on where you come from and where you grew up on that. We also offer some different ones with shrimp and cheese and we do guava cream cheese mix; well plenty of options”. They came with a dipping sauce matched to each filling. They were flaky, tasty and wonderful, either dipped or just eaten with no sauce at all.
My next appetizer was the Bacalaitos. These are codfish fritters, fried and plated with a choice of sauces. The codfish used in the preparation is mild and yields a fritter that is perfect. The sauces enhance the creamy texture of the fried fritters. Even if you are not a fish fan I still think these are worth a try. After another of the Pina Colada IPA’s I headed off to the show.
The location for Wepa Puerto Rican Cuisine has nice glass “garage doors” that can be opened on warmer days. There is a spacious patio outside to relax on in nice weather. Only a few blocks from the Boise River Greenbelt, it can make a nice place to stop for a drink and a meal while walking or riding a bike.
I had read about an organization called Protechos and that Art was very involved with it. He told me about it, saying “When I came up with the idea of wanting to open a restaurant I also wanted to give back to the island in some form or fashion. I was in Puerto Rico 3 months after Hurricane Maria. It was a preplanned trip my family and I were going on, and so after the hurricane hit we got to see some of the first hand damage that was done. I came up with the notion for the restaurant, and wanted to throw in some cause for how can we give back to the island in some form and fashion. I wanted to make sure a it was a local charity in Puerto Rico, some little non profit that was connected with Protechos. They build roofs; they are still building and fixing roofs from Hurricane Maria 4 years later. By their count there are 10.000 roofs to be fixed, so besides building, they teach people to build. They are trying to hit it from all angles. When I met with them it absolutely spoke to me in terms of hitting where I wanted to hit”.
“There are plenty of great charities and great non-profits, a lot of them are wide and encompassing. I want something specific and focused back to that damage. So that’s what we have done and what we are doing is after we generate (laughed) profit we will be donating 5% of our annual net profits back to Protechos. But most importantly, we are educating our customer base about Protechos. It’s on our menus and in our marketing. It’s letting them understand firsthand what Protechos does and making that decision to donate directly to them. There is no direct link; if they did we wouldn’t know it quite honestly. The goal or important part, is how can we help them, Hopefully people walk into the restaurant and get educated and decide for themselves”.
The bottom line is this—Art is really dedicated to the sense of community for both the Treasure Valley and his birthplace, Puerto Rico. Even at the top of the restaurant website, it says With A Social Conscience. There are very few new restaurants that would set up to help others in the way that Wepa Puerto Rican Cuisine does. My suggestion is simple—come for the delicious food and maybe you’ll walk away with a new taste for a different cuisine. And if you decide to help Art in his quest to help the Puerto Rican people rebuild, so much the better. It is not often you can have a wonderful meal and know that you’re also helping Puerto Rico, a U.S. Possession, rebuild their homes and lives.
Wepa Authentic Puerto Rican Cuisine
175 E. 35th Street
Garden City, ID 83714
(208) 207-2962
Wepa Authentic Puerto Rican Cuisine Website
