Michelin Star and celebrity chef Juan Manuel Barrientos, known in the gastronomic world as “Juanma”, was born in Medellín on June 16, 1983. He

is a father, cook, businessman, entrepreneur, lecturer and peace leader with more than thirteen restaurants, bars and a hotel. He is the creator and founder of Elcielo Restaurants in Medellín, Bogotá, Miami and Washington, D. C., Elcielo luxury boutique hotel in Medellín, as well as other prominent eateries and bars such as La sere, Cuon, Kaime, Elcielo Classic, Aguafresca, Shibari Bar, El Navegante Bar and Syrenka Bar all in Medellin, and AO in Bogotá.

Juanma studied at Colegiatura Colombiana in Medellín, and at Mariano Moreno in Buenos Aires. He began his career in 2005 alongside renowned chefs such as Iwao Komiyama (Argentina) and Juan Mari Arzak (Spain).He currently runs a creative workshop in Medellín. This workshop is a creativity lab, an atelier under the direction of chef Juanma, where chefs, designers and creatives from different disciplines create dishes, concepts and experiences for Elcielo Hospitality Group.

Juanma is a highly decorated chef and has been awarded prestigious accolades over the years. On April 22, 2021, Juanma and his team at Elcielo Restaurant located in Washington D. C., obtained the first Michelin Star in history for a Colombian restaurant. This is the greatest recognition achieved in Colombian gastronomy.

In 2019 he won the award for Ibero-American businessman of the year by CEAJE in Spain.In 2018, he published his first and best seller book titled “The Recipe for Success,” where he outlines his experiences in the culinary world and what steps he took to find business and personal success. Juanma has been recognized as the youngest chef in Latin America’s 50 Best for three consecutive times, and in 2016 he was part of the exclusive list of The World’s Best Chef.

In 2016 Juanma was invited as a lecturer to the World Entrepreneurship Summit (one of the most important entrepreneurship conferences in the world), by former President of the United States, Barack Obama. Until this day, Juanma continues providing his expertise to companies on creativity and innovation, supporting the redesign of the DNA of important companies.

You can follow Juanma on all major social networks as @juanmaelcielo.