El Eden Restaurant
(787) 742-0509
Tue - Sat 
10:30 am - 9 pm

What to Eat...Professor by day, Chef by night  
                  Learning the Flavors of Mister Carlos
By Juan Carlos Garavito

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Hungry and wanting to eat something “yummy”, we turned to El Edén restaurant where we would have the opportunity of tasting the culinary creations of Chef Carlos Carrión. Surprisingly, no one there knew who Chef Carlos was, but they did know Mister Carlos. It is so because this experimented talent has been working for 16 years as a science teacher in the public school system in Culebra. Professor by day and chef by night, his culinary skills have been part of a long family tradition.

His curiosity for food was born in his father’s restaurant, El Tulio Seafood (established over 100 years ago). His grandmother prepared every dish and he saw firsthand how they held their clientele captive for such a long time. His mother was a Home Economics professor and, as he puts it: “practically is part of the heritage from both sides [of the family]”

Nonetheless, for Mister Carlos being a Chef as a profession was very peculiar. Back then, there were no specialized schools so you had to leave Puerto Rico in order to develop a career. He saw it as a tough life he experienced firsthand growing up. Because of this, he studied to be a professor of mathematics, with a concentration in science. This career would eventually bring him to Culebra. In the Island, he rediscovered his love of food.

So now there we were, ready to discover his love. Mister Carlos’s menu is a mix between Caribbean and Italian. We start off with fried risotto balls stuffed with shrimp. The perfect balance between crunchy and creamy, Mediterranean and tropical highlights the italian-caribbean influences. We observed as dish after dish went by our table. Each of them with looked exquisite. We saw mussels in white wine sauce, lobster risotto, fried snapper and seafood pasta. All of them made our mouth water. 

The swordfish with zucchini pasta not only awakened our curiosity but also our appetites. The breaded fish held its own against the julienned zucchini disguised as al dente pasta. Accompanied by fresh grated mozzarella and a glass of one of over 40 wine alternatives El Edén offers, this entrée silenced everyone that was at our table. 

So now there we were, ready to discover his love. Mister Carlos’s menu is a mix between Caribbean and Italian. We start off with fried risotto balls stuffed with shrimp. The perfect balance between crunchy and creamy, Mediterranean and tropical highlights the italian-caribbean influences. We observed as dish after dish went by our table. Each of them with looked exquisite. We saw mussels in white wine sauce, lobster risotto, fried snapper and seafood pasta. All of them made our mouth water. The swordfish with zucchini pasta not only awakened our curiosity but also our appetites. The breaded fish held its own against the julienned zucchini disguised as al dente pasta. Accompanied by fresh grated mozzarella and a glass of one of over 40 wine alternatives El Edén offers, this entrée silenced everyone that was at our table.

Mister Carlos’s dishes are fresh and of big portions, in tune with the restaurant’s philosophy: “We like it when our customers are satisfied. A satisfied customer pays for good food. Freshness should always come first.”

Mister Carlos honestly believes that a teacher is a teacher all the time. His staff includes young culebrenses who have been (or still are) his students. He is convinced that he would not be able to meet the demands of a busy night without them. Also, his stepson works in another of Culebra’s restaurants. Mister Carlos sees in them a true calling to continue on the culinary path and an ability to rescue our grandparent’s recipes. “Our grandparents are the teachers in the kitchen; there’s no chef that can do it better than they did. I’m a good cook but an ‘arroz con pollo’ like the one my grandma made, no one can match it. They’re the ones that made the Caribbean cuisine what it is. As Chefs, we add, we substitute and adapt it but we still come out of our grandparent’s kitchen.”

Wherever you run into Mister Carlos, either at a classroom or a kitchen, his passion for what he does is evident. In the food’s case, that passion translates into exquisite dishes prepared with dedication at El Edén. We invite you to try them and let us know what you think.

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