Speakers

The team focuses all its efforts into obtaining new development that will allow to continue creating marine dishes to re-define the concept of gastronomy as a transforming power for today’s society, and tackle important challenges such as the preservation of nature through cooking, collaborating with international NGOs. Ángel León also organizes a global chefs encounter named Despesques, based on sustainability and the reflection on the role of food in the future. The “sea chef” challenges us to think about our ignorance on the infinite and mysterious sea, enhancing discarded species and promoting the preservation and management of the coastal marshes, estuaries and wetlands as sources of marine life. Ángel León (1977) is undoubtedly one of the most influential chefs of our time, with that innate talent that characterizes those who advance gastronomy and take it to spaces that are not as explored as the sea. Ángel's discourse is based on respect and fantasy and combines tradition and evolution in perfect symbiosis. He is a vocational sailor, his passion for the sea and fishing, for the knowledge of nature, fish, seaweed and salts, make him project this more intimate horizon in his cuisine. A restless soul who, more than discovering important culinary techniques, is obsessed with extracting from the sea what others do not want or do not see, in order to be able to offer mankind new ingredients and new species. As part of his compromise with the diffusion of this message and raising awareness toward a more engaged and sustainable cuisine, as well as the research and investigation and development of Aponiente projects, chef Ángel León repeatedly holds talks and participates in the most prestigious national and international congresses, as in many Academic institutions as Harvard University, the King Abdulah University, or The Culinary Institute of America. Ángel León continuously organises and supports different educational projects. He has published two books: Aponiente and Chef del Mar (Montagud Editores), stars a Chef’s Table Episode on Netflix and featured the TVE show “El Chef del Mar”. In 2023, he has been named by The Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) as their Brand Ambassador in Spain, and, in 2024, he was awarded with a Special Science Award by The Best Chefs Awards in Dubai and got a special mention from Basque Culinary World Prize.