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Restaurant review: WEPA in St. Petersburg brings traditional Puerto Rican flavors to Warehouse Arts District

Architect-turned-restaurateur Jean Totti opened it as an homage to the dishes he grew up eating.
 
Shrimp mofongo at WEPA Cocina de Puerto Rico [MARTHA ASENCIO-RHINE   |   Times]
Shrimp mofongo at WEPA Cocina de Puerto Rico [MARTHA ASENCIO-RHINE | Times]
Published July 29, 2019|Updated July 29, 2019

Consider the yuca root. The starchy tuber, a staple of the Latin American pantry, doesn’t usually get the spotlight. Too often it’s banished to the deep-fat fryer, boiled within an inch of its life, or worst of all, bland.

At WEPA Cocina de Puerto Rico, a new Puerto Rican restaurant in St. Petersburg, there’s a strong and convincing argument for letting yuca shine.

Enter the yuca escabeche, in which thick strips are first boiled and then sauteed in the classic vinegar-forward marinade — a tangy interplay of sweet, sour and salty, with plenty of pucker. The dish is served hugging green olives, briny capers and yellow and red bell peppers. It’s loud and colorful and cries out for attention, as if to say: Nobody puts yuca in the corner.

Bistec Encebollado (steak, pounded to thin and topped with sautŽed onions) and a side of mofongo at Wepa Cocina de Puerto Rico. [MARTHA ASENCIO-RHINE | Times]

That dish and many others provide solid reasons to visit WEPA, which opened in March on Third Avenue S, tucked behind 3 Daughters Brewing in an industrial stretch of the Warehouse Arts District.

Architect-turned-restaurateur Jean Totti was born and raised in Puerto Rico, and opened this small, casual restaurant as an homage to the dishes he grew up eating. The restaurant’s chef, Roberto Hernandez Jr. (son of Major League Baseball pitcher Roberto Hernandez), is also Puerto Rican, and leads a small cadre of cooks from behind a partially open kitchen next to the building’s petite dining room.

RELATED: Roberto Hernandez Jr. was heading for baseball dreams, then the kitchen called

Dinner here begins with complimentary loaves of soft bread, heavily buttered and swaddled in tiny rolls of wax paper like little firecrackers. It was this initial touch that first had me intrigued (what were those brown packets on every table?) and then, charmed.

Details like this make the operation feel intimate and homespun, which makes sense when one considers the kitchen’s inspiration: In the 1960s, Totti’s aunt directed the Puerto Rican public school system’s home economics initiative, and many of the recipes here are her direct hand-me-downs, as well as a few dishes plucked from the pages of Cocina Criolla, Carmen Aboy Valldejuli’s iconic cookbook on the cuisine.

Roasted pork with yuca escabeche. [MARTHA ASENCIO-RHINE | Times]

The menu here is largely a traditionalist’s take on classic Puerto Rican dishes, with a straightforward approach and minimal frill.

A combination of Spanish, African and the country’s indigenous Taíno influences, the most well-known dishes stemming from the Caribbean island are hearty and filling, yet still punctuated with bright, acidic components.

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The short menu includes a small collection of appetizers, sandwiches and larger entrees, all served with one or two sides. For an additional couple of dollars the entrees can be ordered with mofongo, perhaps the cuisine’s most emblematic dish of mashed and fried green plantains, made here with pork rinds, garlic and chicken broth. That dish can be ordered separately ($8) and also made vegan, if desired.

Bistec Encebollado (steak, pounded to thin and topped with sautŽed onions) and a side of mofongo at Wepa Cocina de Puerto Rico. [MARTHA ASENCIO-RHINE | Times]

What impresses me most about the food here is the simple balance of flavors: Starches and heavier meat dishes are complemented by brash acidic bursts of citrus, garlic and fresh herbs.

One of the best examples is the masitas de cerdo, or fried pork ($14), where hunks of pork butt are roasted until tender and then tossed in the fryer. The dish is served with an addictive ajilimojili sauce, which is like the Puerto Rican answer to chimichurri: an emerald green condiment packed with garlic and cilantro, vinegar, oil and plenty of citrus. The real kicker is the addition of aji dulce peppers, which give the powerful sauce a jolt of heat and present the perfect counter to the unctuous, fatty bits of charred pork.

Chicken with tostones at WEPA Cocina de Puerto Rico. [MARTHA ASENCIO-RHINE | Times]

Also good is the chicharrones de pollo, or fried chicken ($14), which features bone-in leg quarters that get brined overnight with citrus and Sazon seasoning. The chicken then gets a light flour coating before hitting the fryer, and the result is tender and juicy chicken that boasts a crispy but not craggy-edged crust. It comes served with a light pink mayonnaise-and-ketchup dipping sauce heavy with garlic and lime juice.

When the fryer is involved, as is the case with appetizers ($7 for two) like the tostones, yuca frita or the pastelillo de carne (beef patties), the kitchen takes care to pair each snack with a sauce or condiment bright enough to balance the heft. For the yuca and the beef patty, it’s that same cooling, creamy mayonnaise and ketchup blend. For a round of piping-hot and aggressively salted tostones, it’s a light garlic vinaigrette.

There are also milder dishes like the soft-cooked arroz con gandules ($3) — rice with pigeon peas — a great side to soupier dishes like the buttery and garlic-heavy camarones al ajillo (garlic shrimp, $19). One of the kitchen’s surprise hits is the caldo gallego ($8), a Galician-inspired soup that’s brothy and chock-full of kale, cabbage, chorizo, carrots and potatoes — a go-to for anyone battling a summer AC-induced cold.

Outdoor seating at Wepa Cocina de Puerto Rico. [MARTHA ASENCIO-RHINE | Times]

The restaurant still feels very new, and a few kinks could be worked out with service, which while very friendly can feel a little scattered at times. Also, the kitchen features specials from time to time, but that’s not always articulated to diners, so it’s a good idea to ask just in case.

For dessert, the menu could use some expanding upon. As of press time there was only one item listed, though Totti has said they plan on adding a few more dishes as the business grows. For now, an evening can be capped with a sweet and simple vanilla flan ($6), a custardy treat that, like the rest of the menu, serves as a simple and traditional primer on the Puerto Rican culinary canon.

Food: 7

Atmosphere: 7

Service: 7



If you go

2149 Third Ave. S, No. 6, St. Petersburg; (727) 420-7832; wepastpete.com

Hours: Lunch and dinner noon to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.

Prices: Appetizers, $7 to $11; sandwiches, $14 to $16; entrees, $14 to $24.

Recommended dishes: yuca en escabeche; masitas de cerdo; caldo gallego