Leonor Espinosa

Leonor Espinosa De La Ossa, also known by her nickname ‘Leo’, is a Colombian chef whose Bogotá restaurant, Leo Cocina y Cava, featuring a fusion of traditional and modern Colombian cuisine, first brought her to international attention when it opened in 2007. Espinosa appears regularly on Colombian television, and also runs the restaurants Leo Cocina y Cava and Misia.

Being a prominent landmark, known for celebrating the national cuisine through its menu, Leo Cocina y Cava is a must for visitors and travelers.

Leo has managed to refine tradition, memory and creativity. Her culinary proposal claims Colombian native flavors, combining contemporary art with field research, anthropological insight and immersion in different geographical locations. In 2008 her vocation for gastronomic research led her to materialize the Leo Espinosa Foundation which aims to create development initiatives in rural communities by strengthening culinary traditions, nutrition and food security.

Her current culinary proposal BIOMA-CYCLE focuses on the study through research, development and innovation in the diverse ecosystems in the Colombian territory. In each biome, she and her staff work with biologists, farmers and producers to make way for local products and cuisine that recreates Colombia’s collective memory.