There are anniversaries that celebrate time. And there are anniversaries that celebrate consistency.
This year, Chef Marisoll Hernández commemorates two milestones that define her professional journey in Puerto Rican gastronomy: forty years in the culinary industry and thirty-two years since opening her first restaurant, Chef Marisoll Contemporary Cuisine, in the heart of Old San Juan.
More than dates, these are chapters of a single vision: to practice cuisine as discipline, service, and culture.
Her career has not been a succession of culinary trends or media appearances. It has been a daily construction grounded in technical training, respect for local ingredients, and a deep commitment to the team behind every service.
Before becoming a chef, Marisoll Hernández studied interior design between Puerto Rico and Florida. Her aesthetic sensibility was born outside the kitchen: composition, balance, and visual harmony.
During a family experience, she collaborated in a vegetarian restaurant and discovered the true dynamics of a professional kitchen: long hours, precise organization, and constant attention to detail. There she understood that cooking was not merely creating recipes, but interpreting ingredients.
She worked for months learning without formal compensation, prioritizing knowledge over immediate reward. That decision marked her professional philosophy forever: first master the craft, then exercise leadership.
To refine her technique, Chef Marisoll Hernández enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America in New York, where she acquired strong foundations in French cuisine and operational discipline.
She later worked in London, broadening her cultural understanding of international gastronomy. She learned that geographic and cultural context transforms the meaning of a dish.
Upon returning to Puerto Rico, she achieved a historic milestone: in 1991, she became the first female Executive Chef at a hotel on the island. This accomplishment represented not only personal progress, but a meaningful precedent for future generations of professional women chefs in the Caribbean.
On Calle del Cristo in Old San Juan, Chef Marisoll Hernández opened Chef Marisoll Contemporary Cuisine. The restaurant introduced a concept that was uncommon in Puerto Rican gastronomy at the time: the complete gastronomic experience.
Each service was conceived as a performance. The plate was only part of the memory.
The proposal combined French technique with authentic Caribbean flavors, highlighting local ingredients and elevating them into a contemporary language. The restaurant quickly became a reference point for local diners, business leaders, and international visitors seeking fine dining in Puerto Rico.
Between 1994 and 2005, for more than a decade, the restaurant consistently ranked among the top seven on the island, with a distinction that marked an industry precedent: its founder was the only woman recognized in that category during those years.
The restaurant’s prestige extended beyond cuisine. In addition to tourists and business figures, it regularly welcomed local and international government officials and renowned cultural and entertainment personalities such as Larry King, Antonio Banderas, Carolina Herrera, Melanie Griffith, Sylvester Stallone, Barbara Walters, and Alan Alda, among many others who found in that colonial courtyard an intimate and memorable setting.
In that same courtyard, the chef had the honor of dancing with two Nobel Peace Prize laureates: Mikhail Gorbachev and Lech Wałęsa — moments that symbolized the level of recognition and transcendence her culinary vision achieved.
During nine years of operation, the restaurant not only consolidated a culinary reputation; it also trained professionals who remain active in Puerto Rico’s gastronomic industry today, extending the legacy of a cuisine that defined an era.
Throughout her career, Chef Marisoll Hernández has received multiple recognitions and represented Puerto Rico at high-level international culinary events, positioning Puerto Rican cuisine on global stages while preserving its identity and roots.
After completing her cycle at Chef Marisoll Contemporary Cuisine, Marisoll continued her career with Étniko in Miramar, a restaurant that fused international cuisine with Caribbean flavors. In 2007, she founded Chef Marisoll Catering, a project that now marks 18 years leading private events, weddings, and corporate experiences at some of Puerto Rico’s most emblematic venues, earning recognition as one of the island’s most prestigious catering companies.
Today, 40 years later, her career enters a new stage. Marisoll Hernández is the exclusive chef of the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, leading the gastronomic hospitality of all events held within this cultural space.
The Salón Chef Marisoll, located in the museum’s Grand Hall in Santurce, represents a natural convergence between gastronomy and art.
“My commitment is to bring the excellence of fine dining to a space that already breathes creativity, culture, and beauty.” – Chef Marisoll
For decades, Chef Marisoll Hernández has maintained a consistent philosophy: cuisine is an act of service. Every event, menu, or project responds to the same intention — to offer a respectful, organized, and memorable experience.
Her trajectory reflects adaptation without losing identity. She has navigated changes in culinary trends, technology, and consumer habits while maintaining a coherent line of work that few figures in Puerto Rican gastronomy can match.
Today, Chef Marisoll Hernández remains active, developing new gastronomic proposals and educational projects for children, fostering respect for ingredients from an early age.
The celebration of this anniversary does not represent the closing of a chapter, but its continuation. Her career continues to evolve, guided by the same principle that began it forty years ago: constant learning.
Celebrating forty years in gastronomy means having cooked thousands of dishes. But above all, it means sustaining a calling.
The story of Chef Marisoll Hernández is the story of permanence in an industry that rewards consistency: daily work, continuous education, and commitment to every service, every guest, and every team.
More than an anniversary, it is a gesture of gratitude to clients, students, colleagues, and teams who have been part of the journey.
Discover our upcoming gastronomic experiences, educational events, and special proposals.
