Chef Leo Bongarra Drops the Mic 🥘 (And the Recipes)

After months of herculean effort, I finally got Laguna local favorite Chef Leo (Leandro) Bongarra to sit down and talk with me in this Monday’s “Best of Laguna Beach” radio show at KXFM 104.7. And oh … and what a surprising convo it was … I thought I knew this guy! The hour sailed by as we talked food and the food philosophy behind it … how he conjures those unexpected flavor pairings … his “Nonna’s” movie upbringing … why he’s chosen life as a (renowned) Consulting Chef. 🍷 He even spilled a couple dish secrets and one crazy-good Espresso Martini recipe you won’t find on any menu.

We talk about Chef Leo first coming from behind the Hotel Joaquin curtain in 2023 to take over SEVEN food and beverage concepts in Laguna Beach in one week … and four days before the Festival of the Arts doors were supposed to open. 

Chef explains his job as a consulting chef for this primary reason.

He then explains his upbringing with grandmothers on both sides cooking – on one side serving up food in family-owned restaurants and catering giant gatherings and – on the other side – cooking for his grandfather (a dignitary in town).When Chef Leo finally realized that men ALSO cook, he had to make a decision between two worlds, both of which his father specialized in.

How his parents – who had eventually moved to Pasadena – lured Leo into moving to the U.S. (San Diego, to be exact). And THEN how Leo was lured into culinary school … in Rome.

Chef explains the complicated science of SAUCES. He then talks through the two favorites sauces he loves to make.

In 2005, Chef Leo was hired by the great Chef Celestino Drago at Enoteca Drago in Beverly Hills, where he first worked side by side with this Finnish chef – none other than Celebrity Chef Stefan Richter – who eventually asked Chef Leo to cook in his restaurants in Finland.

Leo recalls working for WeHo’s Sunset Tower and catering the Oscar and Golden Globe after-party award shows and why he was really (humorously) always the pick to cater these events. (LOL)

And, at last, we find out how this wandering chef extraordinaire was lured to cook in Laguna Beach. When Chef Leo first saw this PINK Motor Inn, he thought the joke was on him. But, eventually it was transformed into …





We fast forward to Chef’s most recent excursion – opening a new restaurant in SoHo, Bowery Bungalow – and the fabulous Espresso Martini he created (It’s WAY different than what’s typically served up).

And then we zoom back to Chef Leo’s every-now-and-then chef duties on a yacht and the surprising change in cooking that it requires.