Ocio (Oci.Mde)

Ocio, written by the restaurant as Oci.Mde, is the restaurant of chef Laura Londoño and one of the most sought-after tables in El Poblado. It began in the Provenza area and moved to its present home in El Poblado about eleven years ago, and the name plays on the Spanish word for leisure: the restaurant presents itself as a place for enjoying the time we give to the things we like most.

Londoño's cooking is built around slow-cooked sharing plates. She fuses techniques and flavours picked up during her years abroad, especially from Asian cuisines, with Colombian ingredients. The menu changes about every six months and leans on produce such as fish from Colombia's Pacific coast, Andean tubers, and vegetables and herbs from organic farms. Its best-known dish is beef cooked for 12 hours; one version is braised ribs in a lemon and chilli caramel with sticky rice and peanuts, while another pairs the beef with a Colombian green pepper sauce, mashed cassava and a star fruit salad. For dessert, look out for the warm cookie filled with blackberry, served with pistachio ice cream and chocolate sauce.

Because the plates are made for sharing, Ocio works best for a group of two to four people who are happy to order several dishes and pass them round. It suits food-focused travellers and anyone who wants a modern, relaxed meal rather than a formal tasting menu. The menu is available in Spanish and English on a dedicated website, which helps if you do not read Spanish.

Book ahead. Reservations are taken online through the CoverManager link on the restaurant's website, and the restaurant is active on Instagram as @ocio.mde, which is the best place to check current dishes and opening times.

Away from the kitchen, Londoño founded Recolecta Medellín, an initiative that collects surplus food and passes it on to vulnerable communities, which gives a sense of the values behind the restaurant. In 2022 Time Out named her among the chefs putting Medellín on the culinary map.

The restaurant is at Transversal 7A No. 30-224, Casa 130, in El Poblado, the same district as Provenza, where it first opened before moving to its current address.