Ángel León

Chef at Aponiente*** (Puerto de Santa María, Cádiz, España)

Ángel León is the head chef of Aponiente, a restaurant where he has taken seafood to a whole new level. It is no wonder that he is known in Spain and around the world as the “Chef of the Sea”.

Ángel León (Jerez de la Frontera, 1977) is undoubtedly one of the most influential chefs of our times, with the innate talent that characterises those who take gastronomy to new unexplored heights, or in his case, to the unexplored depths of the seas. León’s discourse is based on respect and fantasy, symbiotically combining tradition and evolution.

A seaman at heart, his passion for the sea, fishing and anything related to the nature he is drawn to – fish, seaweed and salts – projects his cooking to the most intimate horizons.

Beyond his commitment to the socialisation and dissemination of his culinary concept and the R&D projects he pursues at his Aponiente restaurant, León has spoken at key industry events as well as major schools such as Harvard University and The Culinary Institute of America. He has also contributed to several publishing projects – the most noteworthy being his book El Chef del Mar (Montagud Editores) – and his TV series of the same name has gone into several seasons.

Throughout his career, León has received countless awards, including the Premio Nacional de Gastronomía 2013 and Chef L’Avenir 2011. The other restaurant he runs, Alevante in Sancti Petri (Chiclana de La Frontera) also holds one precious Michelin since 2017.