And not only in his Toro Restaurant, but he also has a program on local television, gives workshops in schools and participates in numerous gastronomic events, the last of which was Madrid Fusión.
Andalusian based in Lanzarote since 1987, he started very young learning in a time when "there were no schools available to study cooking", he explains. He started at the Hotel Condado de Barcelona as a kitchen assistant under the orders of a French cook with whom he learned Catalan and French cuisine and says that the first thing he did hot was an omelet: "Which, well done, also has its secret", he says. His time in Barcelona was only the beginning of a long journey through different restaurants and hotels in several countries before arriving in Lanzarote. He took root on the Island and after a few years as executive chef with 160 people in his charge, he decided to start out on his own with the idea of being able to teach his children "and that they could continue with the business".
This is how Toro, his restaurant in Puerto del Carmen, was born, in which he always uses seafood for his creative cuisine with great doses of affection and professionalism. To them he adapted his long experience and personal way of conceiving the profession.
"I like imaginative cuisine; with the products I want to get different results than those previously obtained", he says. In Toro there is also room for "the best national and international red meats with a maturation of up to 60 to 70 days prepared on the grill with wood and charcoal". Faithful to the products of the Island, among them he includes the Canarian black pig and, in season, suckling lamb and organic rabbit, "although we never lack a local stew: chickpeas, lentils, coastal noodles...", he concludes. He also transmits that passion for the local product in his programs for local television. "I have been doing it since 1989 and I cook for housewives and househusbands, one of the most difficult jobs because they have to prepare two or three meals a day and I help them by giving them ideas, recipes and tricks". After five years in Toro, he looks back and says that "we have done fantastic". And even more so now that his son Roberto León has joined as executive chef for two years, who, "puts the most imaginative part to the kitchen and I meanwhile with my Toro, bullfighting", he says laughing.