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We are not biased here, but if you are not from Peru and try Peruvian food, you would also say it is among the best. And we are not the only ones who say it! The World’s 50 Best organization named Pía León as the best female chef in the world in 2021.
The franchise chose the 34-year-old Peruvian chef after tasting her dishes created with ingredients from the region.
León is also making HERstory as the first Peruvian to achieve the title. Her experience has ten years in the making. According to Univision, the chef worked at the Central restaurant, named the best restaurant in Latin America, and in the kitchens of the Ritz hotel in New York and Astrid y Gastón, in Lima, Peru.
“I am happy, after so much work, it is the perfect moment, the ideal platform to show that, although it can be difficult at times if you have the will and know what you want, things happen in their own time and at the right time,” she said in a statement released by The World’s 50 Best.
According to Pía, she has been passionate about cooking and eating since she was a kid. “I enjoyed cooking, eating, and sharing with all the family at the table,” she says in the below YouTube video. She also credits her childhood experiences, her decision to become a chef.
In 2018, Pía León and business partner Virgilio Martínez opened Kjolle, a Peruvian restaurant that offers a unique culinary experience. The chef uses her kitchen to “express her ideas” and “have her own voice.” Kjolle also figures among the 50 best restaurants in the region.
© 50 BestThe food connoisseur says that her Kjolle team is the best and thanked them for being a second family.
El País reported that León’s success is thanks to her creativity and the use of ingredients from all over the country, including a type of pumpkin called loche and the cocona, a tropical shrub harvested in Purús Province in eastern Peru.
