Wilo Benet is a Puerto Rican celebrity chef. He is the chef owner of the Pikayo and Payá restaurants as well as the president & owner of Museum Restaurant Group. Benet was introduced to the restaurant business when his father decided he should work for a living instead of doing nothing with his life. He first worked as a dishwasher at the Caribe Hilton Hotel. He was later a trainee at the same restaurant, where he learned how to make salads, peel shrimps and make other simple kitchen chores. This job interested young Benet in the business of restaurants so his father enrolled him at the Culinary Institute of America from where he graduated in 1985. Benet was Chef de Cuisine at the Governors Mansion in Puerto Rico, Pattisier at Le Bernadin, Poissonier at the Water Club in New York and James Beard Foundation Guest Chef. In 1990, Benet opened the original Pikayo. The restaurant later moved to the facilities of the Puerto Rico Art Museum. He later opened a more casual restaurant named Payá. Benet has become famous for being one of Puerto Rico's top chefs, appearing as a guest chef of the Food Network as well as his own local cooking segment. He was the principal chef on Martha Stewart's Perfect Wedding contest.
