From the challenges of occupying a new space to ensuring the bar reflects its rich gastro-cultural heritage, here's how Lady Bee is putting Peruvian hospitality in the spotlight.
There's been a constant hum about Lady Bee since its 2021 opening, and the noise is about to get a whole lot louder as the bar is awarded the Michter's Art of Hospitality Award as part of The World's 50 Best Bars 2025. With guest expectations at an all-time high, delivering a world-leading welcome is no mean feat, but it's something the young team behind this Lima hotspot keep at the heart of everything it does, including its personal philosophy of making a positive impact on the bar's surrounding community and wider ecosystems around Peru.
Here's how this small bar is making a big impact.
A family affair
At the core of the hive that Lady Bee has built are its founders: married duo Alonso Palomino – the bar's director – and chef Gabriela León, alongside her sister and bar manager Alejandra León, each of whom has a deeply rooted awareness and respect of their gastro-cultural heritage. "Coming from one of the world's most relevant gastronomic capitals, there's a lot of responsibility on our shoulders," explains Palomino. "So every day we strive to be better professionals and people."
Alonso Palomino leads Lady Bee's beverage programme and Gabriela León helms its culinary offering (Image: Ken Motohasi)
Academically, the team has taken the right flight paths in its mission to serve. Bartenders León and Palomino – the latter is also a pisco sommelier – studied hospitality, management and bartending, while chef León learned to cook at Lima's Le Cordon Bleu Institute as well as stages at world-renowned restaurants such as Copenhagen's Noma.
Gathering information and experiences from these diverse environments has been key to Lady Bee's approach to service according to Palomino: "we've been greatly influenced by our own personal journeys and mentors over the years, and we try to infuse those lessons into everything we currently do."
From fork to glass
The Lady Bee experience begins in earnest when the doors open at 6pm with a warm and attentive welcome, according to Alejandra León. "It's highly personalised. Due to the bar's small size you'll likely have a reservation, so we'll know your name, which country you come from and any food allergies or dislikes you might have before you arrive," she says. "It's really important for us to see and connect with who we are serving by carefully listening and attending to every detail."
Drinks and dishes at Lady Bee are developed collaboratively within its team (Image: Camila Novoa)
This attention to detail extends beyond the guests to every worker bee in the bar. Rather than a queen been mentality where one person is in charge, one of the main missions of its founders is a positive, democratic approach to community – and that starts with their own environment. "It begins with our families, then extends to our team members," she adds. "It's knowing they are aligned with our philosophy of working closely with regional producers, traceable ingredients and creating a concept of cocktails defined by seasonality and origin.
"Every encounter has to be reciprocal, imbued with trust and understanding by a team who conveys the work of producers and farmers to our guests."
The team's circular approach to native produce is manifest in its menus. Take the Bloody Mary, which is topped with a juicy, fresh scallop from Ica sourced via Pamela Lazarte – a marine biologist and owner of a company working with artisanal fishermen along the Peruvian coast. These same scallops appear a dish from chef León alongside fennel flowers, pears and Amazonian cecina (cured beef).
The Oca Mashua cocktail is finished with a garnish of pickled Peruvian tuber (Image: Camila Novoa)
Or look to the Oca Mashua cocktail – a celebration of Peru's tuber heritage made with mashua (an Andean tuber from the nasturtium family) and red oca (a tuberous root vegetable with a tangy, lemony flavour) distillate crafted by agronomist and farmer Manuel Choqque, who has been raising tubers for more than 30 years in Huatata, Cusco. These same tubers are pickled at their season's peak and served up on plates of chicken Milanesa and as drinks toppers.
The young bar owners also work to ensure their team truly feels happy doing what they do every day. "We stand out for being authentic and being ourselves, respecting our environment and everyone who forms part of it," Gabriela León explains. "Being true to our values, our integrity and taking care of each other as a team is what we are all passionate about."
Relocating the hive
The bar moved into its new premesis in July 2025 (Image: Camila Novoa)
Historically, Lady Bee was only ever able to host 22 guests at once at its former Miraflores space, but in July of this year the bar moved to a new and larger purpose-built premises in the trendy Barranco neighbourhood. With enhanced space came exacerbated challenges, including doubling the number of cocktail lovers the bar can accommodate and boosting the number of team members to deliver the exacting hospitality the team built their reputation on.
"Our main challenge is to maintain the intimate vibe we had in the original Miraflores location," says Alejandra León. "Keeping a close eye on the details is key, especially now with different architecture to contend with – as the space is a lot bigger – as well as the atmosphere. The same goes for hiring new people to add to our team. Absolutely everything matters and enriches the experience."
Naturally, the core members that made the move are hugely appreciated for their varied skillsets. "Our store keeper Luis Pérez has inexhaustible energy when it comes to motivating the team, while Hanss Abarca and Daniel Granados address every detail when it comes to delivering the best cocktails," says Palomino. "Our young culinary team, Alex Abarca and Camila Rios, are dedicated to serving scrumptious dishes, while our front-of-house team, Sharlene Gutiérrez and María Cortez, take care of every detail of guests' experiences. We are all very different, but each of us adds greater complexity to the eclectic and powerful tapestry at the bar."
Queen bee
While Lady Bee is no stranger to accolades, having been named the One To Watch as part of The World's 50 Best Bars 2023, this latest award has been a joyful occasion for the hive. "It's exciting because this prize recognises the whole team, the people who, over the past four years, have contributed with their genuine generosity," says Palomino.
From hum to full-on buzz, the culmination of Lady Bee's efforts in just four short years is evident in its latest and greatest accolade. Now all that's left to wonder is where the bar will soar next.
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This list of The World's 50 Best Bars 2025, sponsored by Perrier, will be revealed at a live awards ceremony in Hong Kong on Wednesday 8 October. Follow 50 Best on Instagram, find us on Facebook, visit us on X and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
