Leonor Espinosa is working hard to get her nation’s cuisine recognized around the world. She was named Latin America’s Best Female Chef 2017 by 50 Best Restaurants 2017.
Her restaurant Leo in Bogota, was voted Best Restaurant in Columbia back in 2016. She’s known for immense creativity and likes to cook with her homegrown ingredients, which include fermented cocoa leaves and big-bottomed ants.
In addition to cooking and her restaurant career, Espinosa is deeply involved in her foundation called Funleo. Their mission is to reclaim and promote culinary traditions of Columbia using sustainable practices and utilizing local producers. Her daughter Laura, the head sommelier at Leo, leads the project, which helps the local communities by bringing their products to market and many of them are then used by Espinosa in her kitchen.
Espinosa also won the Basque Culinary World Prize earlier this year. This award is given to chefs whose work through gastronomy has helped improve society. She also wrote Leo El Sabor, which tells stories through several ethnic communities.
Read more about Leonor Espinoza at
The Worlds 50 Best.com.