Everybody Loves Cacao

The story of executive chef Edgar Neal is no less interesting than his restaurant’s menu. He determined, at age 17, that he was not only going to be a chef, but to make a name for himself in the world of haute cuisine. He began as an apprentice cook under chef Marc Provost at Gazebo restaurant in Caracas, Venezuela. Two years later, he moved to Deuxième Ètage to work under the guidance of chef Pierre Blanchard. Six years after that, Chef Leal took the opportunity to work at Casa Carmona in Seville, Spain, under the hand of award-winning chef Iñaqui Izaguirre. After two years in Spain and Europe absorbing a variety of cultures, Chef Leal returned to the Americas with executive chef stints at ARA, the Nouveau Grill and the Hotel Lido, and a guest chef engagement at the Marriott Hotel in Santiago, Chile, where he participated in a festival by changing the entire menu for a week. He was also invited back to Europe by Le Café de Paris in Monte Carlo for their gastronomical festival. Chef Leal opened Cacao in Coral Gables in October of 2002, along with his wife Mariana Montero De Castro, who is chef de cuisine and patissier. Earlier this year, he was commissioned by Antonio Ochoa- Piccardo, architect and owner of Tao Tie Yuan restaurant in Beijing, China, to become a consultant chef. In addition, Chef Leal was chosen to represent the Miami region during the Miami-Latin America Food Festival at the Ciragan Palace Hotel Kempinski in Istanbul, Turkey, and he has guested at the Intercontinental Hotel in Tokyo, Japan as well. Chef Leal is perhaps most proud that he was the first Venezuelan to present a dinner at the James Beard Foundation House in New York City.