Food, drink and travel writer + sommelier | Argentina + Latin America
(The World’s 50 Best Restaurants) Leonor Espinosa’s mission goes well beyond applying haute-cuisine techniques to Colombian ingredients. The chef’s ‘ciclo-bioma’ philosophy uses gastronomy as an impetus for social and economic development in indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities – and her mission is now being more widely recognised. Recent accolades include her restaurant Leo in Bogotá, Colombia, […]
(The Guardian) Feast your eyes on these foodie walking tours, which reveal the flavours – and culture – of cities from Lisbon to Lima, Havana to Hanoi. (Here, I wrote Bogotá and Buenos Aires.) Bogotá “This is where Bogotá’s top chefs come shopping,” says Foodies Colombia guide and chef Juliana Salazar, browsing Paloquemao market’s stalls for fruity […]
(The Points Guy) This spring, Departures reported that Colombia’s largest, most biodiverse and most inaccessible national park would open to tourists for the first time this June: But only to those who admire the dramatic jungle landscape from the air.Covering 17,000 square miles formed by distinct biogeographical provinces whose landscapes include Amazon rainforest, sacred tepui tabletop mountains and savanna, Chiribiquete […]
(The Points Guy) From tropical Amazon jungle to Caribbean beaches, the Andean Mountains and the world’s largest bird population (almost 2,000), it’s time you visited Colombia, the second-most biodiverse country on the planet after Brazil. Tucked into the northwest corner of South America, its warm and friendly people are more than ready for visitors after its […]
(The World’s 50 Best) While a political science degree led Laura Hernández Espinosa to undertake diplomatic missions, her heart knew better and she ditched embassy life to fuse her real passions: social development and gastronomy. Since 2009, the head sommelier at Leo in Bogotá has also been executive director of FunLeo, a foundation set up by […]
(Selector) As we survey María del Carmen Toro’s fertile coffee, banana and avocado farm, the sun has started to lower and mist is slowly gathering in the valley. “The conflict was intense here,” she recalls. “Bombs went off all the time and ‘they’d’ come here at 1am, demanding we prepare them food.” The ‘they’ to […]
“The stories behind the beans are only just emerging: landmine victims, women and former Farc guerrillas have set up co-operatives, teaming up for their bite of the cherry.” Check out page 22 of Barista Magazine for my article on how Illy Caffè is contributing to Colombia’s peace process.
(The Independent) An historic 16th-century port city nestled alongside the Caribbean Sea, it’s no secret that Cartagena de Indias (commonly known as Cartagena) is one of Colombia’s prettiest jewels. Come for the old town’s stunning Unesco World Heritage Site’s colonial architecture, stay for the tropical islands and eternal summer weather. While the cobbled streets and […]
(The Independent) “I want Colombia to be different,” says Jhon Benavides, an aspiring barista and, from the age of 14 until last year, a guerrilla in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc). He’s just prepared a brew, carefully weighing out freshly ground coffee beans before making some cups of arabica grown here in Popayán, […]
(The Independent) Magical realism springs to life in Cartagena de Indias, the Caribbean jewel in Colombia’s crown. Akin to an open-air museum, the walled Unesco World Heritage Site hides a wealth of colonial architecture and monuments, but you can also escape to one of the nearby beaches, a boat ride away, for a tropical experience. Lose yourself in […]