Restaurante Ariel is part of the Visa Nights program, offering customers with Visa Signature or Infinite cards issued by local banks a complimentary bottle of Laurent-Perrier champagne or Origen de Resalte wine with their dinner. Learn more about the program here.
In the heart of Miramar sits Restaurante Ariel, where Chef Ariel Rodríguez's culinary passion transforms traditional flavors into contemporary works. His journey in the culinary world began in his home kitchen, cooking alongside his aunts, mother and grandmother from the age of six.
"Always cooking," Rodríguez reflects on his beginnings. "Since I was little I've cooked with my aunts, my family, my grandmother. With my mom I've cooked my whole life, since I was six."
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The foundations of his professional career were laid in 1996 when he began working at what was then known as the restaurant Augusto's.
What started as a search for experience before culinary school became a comprehensive apprenticeship, covering everything from kitchen prep and wine service to valet parking and dishwashing.
"Whatever the restaurant needed, that's where I was working," he recalls.
After graduating from the Universidad de Puerto Rico with a degree in Economics and Finance, Rodríguez pursued his culinary ambitions at the Culinary Institute of America in New York. His mentor, Chef Augusto Schreiner, invited him to return as sous chef in 2002, a partnership that continued until Rodríguez bought the restaurant in 2005.
Global inspiration, local flavor
His culinary philosophy has been shaped by travels through Mexico, Spain, France and Canada. "The great thing about it," Rodríguez explains, "is that when you travel… you're exposed to things you wouldn't expect. There's a dish I'm making now that goes back about three years, when I was in Paris, at a restaurant called Chateaubrion… How you can play with a traditional dish and how we can adapt it into something that reminds you of yourself."
His commitment to constant innovation is evident in the menu. "Here you'll always be able to come and try something different," he says.
"Every week there will be some dish that is new or different or seasonal, or where we only sourced the product for that period."
Restaurante Ariel has become a culinary destination where classic techniques meet contemporary creativity, all under the watchful eye of a chef who never stops learning, evolving and creating.
As Rodríguez himself reflects: "I think that movement of continuing to search also keeps you going. If we didn't do it, maybe you wouldn't have as much excitement to keep creating."
This content was translated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
