Laurence Dollimore
ANGEL Leon has won an award for helping improve Cadiz’s brand around the world.
The so-called Chef del Mar, 42, who runs three-Michelin starred Aponiente in Chiclana, received the first ever La11Mil Award at a ceremony in Madrid this month.
The gong has been set up by entrepreneurs from Cadiz and will each year award the prize to the local talent who best shines a positive light on the Andalucian gem.
Leon, who was born in Jerez de la Frontera, was recognised in the inaugural award thanks to his ‘invaluable foreign promotion of the province’.
“His restaurants serve travellers from more than 60 countries,” the judging panel noted.
“The Chef del Mar is many things: a businessman, visionary, researcher, creator, tenacious worker and an invaluable ambassador of Cadiz,” added Daniel Romero-Abreu, head of Thinking Heads, which presented the award alongside the president of the Confederation of Employers of Cadiz Javier Sanchez Rojas.
“La11Mil helps us to project the values ??of the Cádiz brand,” said Rojas.
“Ángel León is one of the many people who make us feel proud of Cadiz.”
The prize is a figure created by artist Antoni Gabarre, which symbolizes the number 11 and the letter M in the Phoenician alphabet – an homage to the civilization which founded the city of Cádiz (while the 11M represents the local postcode).
Aponiente, in El Puerto de Santa María, has become one of the hottest restaurants in the country after being awarded its third Michelin star last November and has been host to a variety of celebs, including the Game of Thrones cast last May.
