Arguably one of Bogotá’s best fine-dining experiences, chef Leonora Espinosa's eatery was among the first to explore the potential of Colombia’s vast range of products, from the caiman pâté in an Amazonian pepper broth to giant ant bottoms (yes, ant bottoms) from Santander crusting a rare tuna steak. Espinosa forged bonds with isolated communities to incorporate flavors and ingredients previously relegated to obscurity, and combines them here using modern techniques. The 12-course tasting menu offers a glimpse of these far corners and really shines with its drink pairings, which range from well-chosen wines to cocktails with locally brewed liqueurs.

The frillier and more expensive of these sequels is La Leo Cocina Mestiza, in the sleek new B.O.G. Hotel in El Lago. Cocina mestiza means mixed cuisine, and that phrase evokes the menu's mingling of various influences that have shaped the country's cooking—Arabic, African, Caribbean, and of course European. La Leo's hummus, for example, is made with guandul, a less aggressively starchy Colombian bean that yields a silkier paste than chickpeas, and it's scooped up not with triangles of pita but with rice crackers that evoke arepas.

The following night, a little further north in Zona G, a food enclave within Bogotá’s affluent Chapinero neighbourhood, I stop for a pre-dinner drink and snacks at Leo, one of the best fine-dining experiences in Colombia, as evidenced by its steady climb up The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. As a door opens, I can see into the austere dining room. But that will have to wait (I have a reservation for later in the week).

Head downtown to discover the kaleidoscopic fusion of unusual ingredients and ancestral knowledge at Leo Cocina y Cava. Or enjoy large servings of simple yet original dishes designed to be shared and unhurriedly appreciated at Tábula (elorigendelacomida.co).

Basque World Culinary Prize Leonor Espinosa’s flagship restaurant is routinely ranked as Colombia’s best according to the Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurant list and it shows no signs of slowing down. Energized by Espinosa’s phenomenal foundation Funleo, which uses gastronomy as a form of sustainable development in rural Colombian communities, the CYCLE-BIOME menu, created with her daughter and sommelier Laura Hernández-Espinosa, is based on the studies of different Colombian biomes and ecosystems through research supported by numerous biologists, producers, and farmers. Endemic ingredients and ancestral knowledge is woven into 20-plus courses that take the diner on an exploration of Colombian biodiversity, and feature a pairing that dables between artisanal drinks, wine, and beer.

Many of Bogota’s most esteemed chefs, such as Martinez, who refers to himself as an “agricultural engineer”, and celebrity chef Leonor Espinosa, work with local biologists and producers to research traditional agricultural systems and the cooking traditions of disenfranchised indigenous, afro-descendent, and peasant communities. At Espinosa’s restaurant Leo, the menu serves as a mini-lesson book as each ingredient is illustrated, color-coded, and labelled on a map of Colombia. Leo’s 15-course tasting menu pairs Indigenous wines and fermented drinks with wildly creative dishes such as the Ponche (a local rodent): mashed native red bean in a gravy of ponche collagen topped with crispy ponche skin and Santamaria de anis: a medicinal plant from the rainforest.

Taste mother/daughter powerhouse duo’s one-of-a-kind food and drink pairings: As it continues to rack up awards and accolades, Leo is not only one of Colombia’s most thrilling restaurants but has quickly become known as the cutting edge of what is happening in all of South America, thanks to chef Leonor (Leo) Espinosa and her sommelier daughter, Laura Hernández-Espinosa. This powerhouse duo wows with creativity and artful presentation (using stunning locally-made dishware), without losing laid back Colombian hospitality or soulfulness. The food will challenge in ingredients — you might eat ants or capybara (world’s largest rodent) — but easy deliciousness will win you over with each course.

If you could have only one meal in Bogota, it has to be at Leo. Run by mother-and-daughter Leonor Espinosa (Latin America’s Best Female Chef 2017) and Laura Hernandez-Espinosa, the restaurant, which was named the best restaurant in Colombia in 2018 by the Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants, presents Colombia’s extraordinary bounty in the form of a 15-course tasting menu, with ingredients you’ve most likely never heard of (coquindo and ponche, anyone? That’s a yellow acidic fruit from the Amazon, and wild rodent meat, by the way) spanning from rain forests to the deserts all over the country. Their beverage pairing is one of the more socially conscious on the market today.

Leo Restaurant: A culinary celebration of culture Named for one the country’s most celebrated chefs (Leonor Espinosa), the Leo restaurant creates high-end contemporary cuisine by employing the traditional ingredients of disenfranchised Colombian communities. As such, the restaurant’s imaginative fine dining plates reflect the local products and ancestral knowledge of campesinos, indigenous peoples, and Afro-Colombians. The result is an extravagant 15-course tasting menu, encompassing selections such as lemongrass-scented rainforest ants, smoked rabbit, velvety cacay nut milk, and tallo leaves garnished with crunchy Andean tuber salt.

If you could have only one meal in Bogota, it has to be at Leo. Run by mother-and-daughter Leonor Espinosa (Latin America’s Best Female Chef 2017) and Laura Hernandez-Espinosa, the restaurant, which was named the best restaurant in Colombia in 2018 by the Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants, presents Colombia’s extraordinary bounty in the form of a 15-course tasting menu, with ingredients you’ve most likely never heard of (coquindo and ponche, anyone? That’s a yellow acidic fruit from the Amazon, and wild rodent meat, by the way) spanning from rain forests to the deserts all over the country.

When it comes to world-famous Bogota restaurants, few can compete with Leo, situated in Bogota’s upmarket Chapinero neighborhood. The restaurant is run by celebrity chef Leonor Espinosa De La Ossa, who was crowned the best female chef in the world according to The World’s 50 Best Restaurants “50 Best” list in 2022. Leo itself currently ranks at the position of the 48th best restaurant in the world and is famed for its truly innovative take on traditional Colombia ingredients, which span everything from ‘big-bottomed’ ants to mojojoy Amazonian larvae.

Run by the mother and daughter team, chef Leonor Espinosa and sommelier Laura Hernandez-Espinosa, Leo is considered one of the best restaurants in Bogota, winning awards for its imaginative fine dining plates. The dining experience here is based on the study of Colombia’s different biomes and ecosystems, showcasing dishes reflecting local products and ancestral knowledge. This approach results in beautifully presented plates encompassing ingredients like crab, sweet veal, honey and goats’ cheese.

To experience Colombian gastronomy, Leo offers a 13-course, nearly 3-hour tasting menu in a contemporary space that almost feels like a museum. Sync up your tasting with a fermented drinks menu that’s influenced by Colombia’s various landscapes and regions. Chef Leonor Espinosa recently was named the Best Female Chef in the World and was recognized for her “Ciclo-Bioma” concept that’s based on finding innovative ways to incorporate little-used species into a new kind of modern Colombian cuisine.

There’s no better way to start this list of the best restaurants in Bogota than with Restaurante Leo. Helmed by Chef Leonor Espinosa – one of Colombia’s most celebrated chefs – it isn’t just one of the best restaurants in Colombia, it’s one of the best restaurants in South America and all of Latin America. Aside from Leo ranking 48 on the 2022 list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants and 13 on Latin America’s 50 Best, Chef Leonor Espinosa was also named the World’s Best Female Chef in 2022.

Opened in tandem with the restaurant Leo in June 2021 after the pandemic subsided in Bogotá, it is also the showroom for the company's own distillates from its Territorio line. The Spanish equivalent of terroir, a favorite word amongst many sommeliers, has been entirely reimagined by Hernández Espinosa, who also has also worked in that field. Her spirits in beautifully shaped earthenware bottles are intended to translate nothing less than the regions of Colombia into liquid form.

Restaurante Leo: Leo is one of Bogotá’s most famous restaurants, featured in San Pellegrino’s 50Best restaurants in Latin America list. The meal is not for the faint-hearted, as it involves all kinds of exotic local Colombian plants and ingredients (crocodile anyone?) but as a vegetarian, my tasting menu didn’t involve anything too weird and almost all of the dishes were divine. With hearts of palm, local cheeses, greens, and fruits it was a delightful gastronomic experience.

The sophisticated farm-to-table restaurant Leo Cocina y Cava — the collaboration of chef Leonor Espinosa and her sommelier daughter, Laura Hernández Espinosa — turns local sourcing IGNORE INTO a fine art. The lunch-only Prudencia also serves creative farm-to-table dishes (expect licorice-smoked pork belly) and has its own herb and vegetable garden out back. Maryland-born dancer-turned-restaurateur Meghan Flanigan runs it with her chef-husband Mario Rosero.

Leonor Espinoza is more than just a chef, she is a champion of Colombia’s cultural heritage with a foundation that empowers its rural communities through food crops and traditions. And her restaurant, considered one of the best in the world by Conde Nast Traveler, is as interesting and authentic as the woman herself, who skipped the city’s restaurant quarter in favor of a quiet street that better reflects the magic of her food. It’s worth the pilgrimage.

The sophisticated farm-to-table restaurant Leo Cocina y Cava — the collaboration of chef Leonor Espinosa and her sommelier daughter, Laura Hernández Espinosa — turns local sourcing into a fine art. The lunch-only Prudencia also serves creative farm-to-table dishes (expect licorice-smoked pork belly) and has its own herb and vegetable garden out back. Maryland-born dancer-turned-restaurateur Meghan Flanigan runs it with her chef-husband Mario Rosero.

Leo Cocina y Cava is where high-end cuisine meets the essence of Colombian biodiversity. Chef Leonor Espinosa, widely regarded as one of the best chefs in Latin America, is known for her creative use of native ingredients and her commitment to promoting Colombian culinary traditions. Here, you can embark on a gastronomic journey through different ecosystems of Colombia, with tasting menus that feature exotic ingredients and innovative presentations.

Ubicado en el puesto 14, Leo destaca los productos y sabores colombianos con una perspectiva arriesgada y creativa. Desde la idea hasta la presentación final de los platos, la chef Leonor Espinosa evoca en su cocina el lujo natural que tiene Colombia. El menú está inspirado en la tradición gastronómica que se puede encontrar a la orilla de un río, el mar, los bosques selváticos, el desierto o las diversas montañas del país.

For fancy, it’s gotta be Leo, Bogotá’s most celebrated restaurant. The tasting menu is a deep dive into Colombian ingredients mixed with modern techniques but it’s the drink pairing that thrills me to the core. Laura Hernández-Espinosa, who directs the beverage program, has hunted down ferments of local fruits like corozo, vino de coca, guava wine, feijoa eau de vie, tomaseca and other traditional Colombian beverages.

Leo is a fine dining establishment that celebrates lesser-known Colombian ingredients and revive indigenous gastronomic traditions. One of the dining rooms is run by the renowned chef and restauranteur Leonor Espinosa. The other is overseen by her daughter and sommelier Laura Hernández Espinosa with a smaller menu but a greater focus on the art of mixology, unusual wines and Colombian liquors produces in-house.

Book Now The creative process in the proposal of the chef Leonor Espinosa and the sommelier Laura Hernández, is supported by their FUNLEO foundation and is based on elements that allow sensations and emotions to be transferred to a story where you can feel, smell, remember, travel and listen, allows to build a new narrative of Colombian gastronomy exalting the biodiversity of the territory.

Para William Drew, Editor General de Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants, Bogotá (y el resto de Colombia) está prosperando y viviendo una nueva era gastronómica de la mano de increíbles chefs y restaurantes como Jorge Rausch de Criterión (no. 29 dentro de la lista), Leonor Espinosa de Leo (no. 16), Juan Manuel Barrientos de El Cielo (no. 30) y Harry Sasson (no. 40).

Leonor Espinosa is the chef behind this original concept: Ciclo-Bioma. Here, the word local takes on a higher meaning, because the food is representative of every region in the country. More than just an inspiration of life in the mountains, rainforests, moorlands, valleys, islands, and rivers, the menu is a result of a careful study of ingredients and species.

Leo, a culinary powerhouse ranked 43rd globally and 13th in Latin America, invites you to experience the art of gastronomy in Bogotá. With a 10-course menu, Leo offers a journey through exquisite flavors and meticulous presentations. Ideal for unhurried evenings, Leo transforms dining into an immersive exploration of Colombian ingredients and culinary finesse.

The tasting menu at Leo is a fearless exploration through the mountains, deserts, seas, mangrove forests, and rivers of Colombia. Expect a crash course in indigenous Colombian ingredients including lemongrass-scented rainforest ants, delicate wild rodent meat, smoked rabbit, velvety cacay nut milk, and tallo leaves garnished with crunchy Andean tuber salt.

This restaurant is known for its innovative tasting menus featuring local ingredients and creative pairings with wine and cocktails. It was listed on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2021. It’s led by Leonor Espinosa, a local celebrity chef in Colombia who has had a significant impact on the country’s cuisine since opening her flagship restaurant.

Leo is a fine dining establishment that celebrates lesser-known Colombian ingredients and revive indigenous gastronomic traditions. One of the dining rooms is run by the renowned chef and restauranteur Leonor Espinosa. The other is overseen by her daughter and sommelier Laura Hernández Espinosa with a smaller menu but a greater focus on the art of …

Colombia’s top chef, Leonor Espinosa, brings international attention to lesser-known ingredients like corozo, yacón, and fried ants. Her artistic creations have put her in the limelight. In 2016, her restaurant LEO, in the heart of Bogota’s downtown financial district, was at number 16 on the Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants list.

Top Colombian restaurants Leo, Villanos en Bermudas, Andrés Carne de Res, Criterion and Harry Sasson are among the country’s restaurants competing for the prize. All of them have previously been featured among the World’s 50 Best Restaurants. Harry Sasson achieved Colombia’s highest place in the 2017 list, when it was ranked 17th.

Your palate will go into overdrive at Bogota’s Leo, where chef Leonor Espinosa brings Colombia’s ecosystems and abundant larder to life. Edible debuts might include Amazonian rainforest-sourced cacay nut and babilla (spectacled caiman), forest-dwelling hormigas culonas (leafcutter ants) or pepino melon plucked from Andean woods.

Leonor Espinosa, la chef detrás de Leo, ha sido reconocida en varias ocasiones por su contribución a la gastronomía colombiana. Este restaurante se ha convertido en un emblema de la comida colombiana contemporánea. Ofrece un menú basado en la biodiversidad de Colombia, utilizando ingredientes nativos y técnicas tradicionales.

Calle 65bis # 4-23 +57 317 661 6866 reservas@restauranteleo.com. Led by renowned chef Leonor Espinosa, Leo is a pioneer in Colombian haute cuisine. The restaurant’s menu showcases the country’s rich biodiversity, using indigenous ingredients to create innovative dishes that highlight the unique flavors of Colombia.

Looking to experience Colombia’s diverse cuisines without stepping foot outside Bogotá?. Leo is the restaurant for you. Celebrity chef Leonor Espinosa has teamed up with local biologists and producers to research the traditional ingredients of disenfranchised Indigenous, Afro-descendant and peasant communities.

The restaurant was sleek and chic, and our waiter was so lovely; he shared complimentary wine after wine after wine with us, well after our meal had ended. But, when I think about some of the 50-Best-List experiences I’ve had in Lima or Mexico City, the food fell short. Especially the vegetarian dishes.

Choose one of the tasting menus (there are two) rather than ordering off the a la carte menu to really experience Chef Leonor Espinosa’s passion for and reinterpretation of Colombian cuisine. Tasting menus, including wine, are around US$60 per person and worth every peso. Tuna tartare, Nueve style.

When Chef Leonor Espinosa, nicknamed Leo, opened this fine-dining restaurant in 2007, Colombian food was forever changed. Her impeccable research into the food of the country’s isolated indigenous and Afro-Colombian cultures put her in touch with ingredients that no other chef in…

Leonor Espinosa, one of the most significant, upcoming female chefs in the country, takes a twist on Colombian food. Her restaurant, Leo, serves modern versions and combinations of all your typical ingredients. It is considered one of the best restaurants in the country!.

Leo: Leonor Espinosa no solo es protagonista de la alta cocina colombiana, sino una investigadora de los productos y las tradiciones culinarias de nuestro país. Ocupa el lugar 18 en la lista de los Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants.

With restaurants like Criterión (No 18), Leo Cocina y Cava (No 33), El Cielo (No 30), Andres Carne de Res (No 43) and Harry Sasson (No 24) leading the way it’s certainly a culinary star in the rising.

Ten minutes’ stroll from Casa Medina is Leo, the avant-garde, fine dining vision of celebrated chef Leonor Espinosa. Leo’s chic interiors shine. (Image: Simon Bosch Photography)

Dining in Bogotá offers a unique experience, with restaurants like Andrés Carne de Res and Leo leading the way in Colombia’s gastronomic scene.