Michael Diaz de Leon and Tommy Lee Opening Molino Chido at Stanley

“I’m just ready to have a seat at the table.”

“It's hard when you leave something that you’ve established, that you’re so comfortable with. To take that leap was scary, but I knew in my heart that I had to do it," said award-winning chef Michael Diaz de Leon in announcing his November 2023 exit as executive chef of Brutø, the Id Est Hospitality restaurant he'd helmed since 2020 that just months before had won a star at Colorado's first Michelin awards ceremony.