Women’s Day: 10 things you didn’t know about Pía León, the best chef in the world

Clarification: This article was originally published on August 4, 2021. It was updated for Women’s Day.

Pia Leon She is a national pride and the first Peruvian cook to reach the top of the gastronomic podium. In August 2021 she was named as the best female chef in the world according to the list The World’s 50 Best Restaurants (the most important guide in the field). On the occasion of International Women’s Day, we tell you more about her and her fascinating success story.

1. María Pía León was born in Lima in Lima in December 1986. She has a twin and both are the youngest of four siblings. Her mother was a travel agent and her father a real estate broker. Growing up, she left behind the “Maria” and kept only the Pía of her name.

2. She used to cook from a very young age and used to prepare desserts with his mom (his favorite is lemon pie). When she finished school, she announced to his family that he wanted to be a chef and there was no going back: Pía never contemplated another career alternative nor did she want to prepare in another field. She graduated from the Cordon Bleu in Lima.

3. A accident was able to truncate her future: when she was still a student, Pía traveled to Naples (Florida) to do an internship in a restaurant where her uncle worked. One day, in the apartment where she was staying, she turned on the wrong burner without realizing that a pan of oil had started to overheat. She ended up with a serious burn on one hand that almost reached her bone, and she had to spend time in the hospital. But not even that stopped her desire to dedicate herself to cooking.

4. When it came to CentralIn 2008, there was only one woman on the team: her. Ella pía she was 21 years old when she landed in that gastronomic project commanded by a chef named Virgilio Martínez who -then- was still oblivious to fame. Her first official position was cold storage assistant. Within a week she was already in charge of that entire area.

5. Shortly after the first year of opening, Central had to close their doors. His was a dazzling rise in the culinary scene of Peru and the world, which was cut short from one moment to another. León waited, confident that the concept of the restaurant was worth betting on. It was six months without salary or guarantees.

6. During this period León and Martínez began a love relationship that they kept secret at the beginning, but shortly after they communicated to the team. The couple was always up front with their relationship and they have been together since 2010. Four years later, in 2014, Pía and Virgilio got married. At the end of 2015, her first child arrived, little Cristóbal, who usually accompanies his parents on trips, gastronomic routes and frequently plays in the gardens that today surround Central.

7. The third year after the opening of Central, Pía León became the head chef of the restaurant, a position he held for almost seven years until they moved to Barranco to open different concepts, intertwined with each other. It is in what was the Tupac House of that district where three gastronomic spaces coexist: Central, Mayo (a bar with snacks) and Kjolle, the restaurant commanded by Pía León that is located on the second floor.

8. Kjolle It is a haute cuisine restaurant that bears the name of a small Andean tree with golden flowers, which grows at more than 3,800 meters above sea level. As in Central and Mayo, the kitchen is supplied with the products of Mater Initiative, a research center biological and cultural by Malena Martínez. You can order à la carte dishes and there is usually a tasting menu.

9. In 2021 Pía León appeared in Netflix: He did it in Waffles and Mochi, a series produced by Michelle Obama to invite children to learn about ingredients and cultures from all over the world in an entertaining way. The chapter with Pía was recorded in Cusco, at the facilities of Mater Initiative.

10. The pandemic was the first time the team at Central and Kjolle ventured into the delivery. “We had to adapt and find an immediate solution. It was a difficult challenge at the beginning because it was something new, but the truth is that we have learned a lot. The team has grown stronger. It has also been an opportunity to try other things”, León told Somos in 2020. The three spaces already operate regularly in salon service and the experiences have been brought closer to a more local audience.