Madrid's only three-Michelin-star restaurant. The fourth-best in the world. A room full of flying pigs, Spanish punk, and some of the most fearlessly flavored food being cooked anywhere right now.

First Things First


Dabiz Muñoz looks like he plays in a band. He cooks like one, too.


Walk into DiverXO and the first things you notice are the pigs. Flying pigs on the walls, on the crockery, woven into the art lining the staircase on the way yp to the dining room. Then you notice the man who runs the place - a mohawk, visible tattoos, the energy of someone who still has something to prove even after being named the best chef in the world three consecutive times.


The flying pigs are not decoration. They're a story. When Dabiz Muñoz was young, he told his father he would own the best restaurant in the world one day. His father, being a realist, told him that was about as likely as pigs taking flight. The pigs now line every surface of a restaurant that has held three Michelin stars since 2013 and currently sits fourth on the World's 50 Best list. Muñoz got the last laugh, and he's been laughing loudly, in pig form, ever since.


There are also giant ants. Those are for the team. It take a whole colony running full speed to pull off what happens in this room each service, and Muñoz has never been shy about saying so. The details at DiverXO always mean something. You just have to lean in long enough to find out what.

How It Started


A tiny room in Tetuán, almost no money, and a waiting list from day one


Dabiz Muñoz grew up in Madrid and started his career in the city's kitchens before leaving for London in his early twenties. He worked at Hakkasan, Nobu, Nahm, and Locanda Locatelli - restaurants that taught him how Spanish instinct and Asian precision could share a plate without either one flinching. When he came back to Madrid in 2007 and opened DiverXO on Calle Pensamiento in the Tetuán neighbourhood, he had a tiny space, barely any resources, and an idea of what cooking could be that nobody in the city had quite tried yet.


The first Michelin star came in 2010. The second in 2012. The third in 2013 - making Muñoz, at 33, the second-youngest chef in history to receive threes tars, and restoring Madrid's place on the world culinary map after two decades without a three-star restaurant in the city. He has said, with characteristic straightforwardness, that this recognition was historic precisely because of the conditions under which it was earned. No family money. No industry connections. Just a kitchen that refused to play it safe.


"The motivation to continue with DiverXO is to continue redefining the rules. To redefine what a haute cuisine restaurant with three Michelin stars is."

~ Dabiz Muñoz


The restaurant has since moved twice - from Tetuán to a larger space in the same neighborhood, then to its current honme in the NH Collection Eurobuilding in Chamartín. A third move has been confirmed for sometime in the next year or two: Muñoz announced in late 2025 that DiverXO will relocate again, this time to a neighborhood space that feels like a genuine part of the city rather than a hotel lobby. The La Finca project - a 14M EUR dream that fell through after two and a half years of work - was scrapped because the conditions kept changing and Muñoz decided he'd rather start again than compromise. That decision tells you a lot about how he thinks.


Before you book, check the current address. The restaurant is moving, and this is the rare case where calling ahead isn't just courtesy - it's necessary.

What It Actually Feels Like


Not a whisper. A freight train with impeccable timing.


DiverXO does not do delicate in the way that phrase is usually meant. The food here is muscular, bold, unapologetically flavor-forward - dishes that hit you fully rather than nudging you politely. One reviewer described it as a restaurant where culinary restraint comes to die. That's close. It's more accurate to say it's a place where restraint is replaced by precision. The complexity is real, the technique is immaculate, and the flavours are the loudest thing in the room.


The experience is built around what Muñoz calls lienzos - canvases. Each dish arrives on a broad, white ceramic surface, the food placed the way a painter places color: deliberate, considered, and designed to be read rather than just eaten. Every course comes with a card explaining what you're tasting, the story behind it, and often a small instruction about how to approach it. You keep the cards at the end. Some of them are beautiful objects in their own right.


The staff are young, knowledgeable, and genuinely engaged in what they're serving - not repeating a script but explaining a meal they believe in. The sommelier, Miguel Ángel Millián - named the world's best sommelier at the 2023 World's 50 Best awards - leads a wine program where some bottles are produced specifically for DiverXO. If there's a moment to let someone else make decisions for you, the wine pairing is it.


Expect four to five hours at the table. Not because the service is slow - it isn't - but because the kitchen sets the pace to match the meal. There are around fifteen courses, and the room has roughly thirty covers, which means the attention per table is real and felt. Dress with intention but don't arrive stiff. This is a  room with flying pigs on the walls and a chef who plays padel and talks about Valencian paella like it's the most important thing in the world. The energy is warm, slightly unhinged in the best possible way, and completely alive.

The Dishes


The kind of combinations that sound impossible until they're on the plate


The menu changes frequently - dishes are born from trips Muñoz takes, conversations with his daughter, scientific papers about invasive species, memories of a specific bowl of laksa eaten in Singapore. What follows is a portrait of what the kitchen has been cooking, not a fixed menu. Expect something close to this, and expect to be surprised by what's been added since.


Blue Crab with Kimchi Ice Cream


Blue crab - an invasive species in Spain - cooked in the Chinese style, served with kimchi ice cream, crab coral jam, and a skewer of BBQQ wild strawberries. The kitchen serves it partly to help eradicate the species. Principled and delicious.


Skate Wing Chop


Asturian strinray wing with Melipona honey - a rare Mexican bee honey - in a chile morita mole, parmesan whey, and semi-dried tomato. Spain and Mexico sharing a plate, neither one diluted. A moist cloth arrives with it. You'll need it.


Peas with Riofrio Caviar


Wok-sautéed peas from Zamora with caviar, a pistachio and jalapeño ajoverde and a macadamia, coconut, horseradish ajoblanco alongside. Sounds gentle. Isn't. One of the most quietly brilliant things on the menu.


Pig Skin Sandwich


An evolution of Madrid's classic bocadillo de calamares - but the bread is pig skin, the filling is face meat with pecorino cream, wild rocket, black trumpet pesto, egg yolk and goose. Topped with house-made sriracha. Messy. Remarkable.


Lobster Two Ways


Lobster tail with tandoori yogurt, tomatillo ketchup and sushi rice. The shell filled with a vindaloo curry. Alongside: a miniature elephant sculpture holding a pani puri filled with salmorejo cream and lobster claw. Three countries in one course, all of it coherent.


Oxtail Crunchy Ravioli


A crunchy ravioli of oxtail with black mole, roasted bone marrow and sweet chili, served with a hollow horn of sour Galician ox bouillon with black vinegar and Penja pepper. The horn is not for display. Drink from it.


Elvers and Sea Cucumber


Baby eels with al dente espardenya - sea cucumber - toasted and glazed with eel jus, deglazed with sherry. Red mullet bouillon with bitter orange and buffalo butter emulsion. One of the most technically patient dishes in the meal.


The Dessert(s)


The meal ends with cauliflower in dessert form (stranger and better than it sounds), a gum that stops most tables mid-conversation, and Japanese chocolates: tiramisu, sweetcorn core, cookies dipped in milk. Dishes people are still thinking about on the way home.

What You'll Pay


One menu. Several ways to drink through it.


DiverXO operates on a single tasting menu of around fifteen courses. There is no à la carte, there are currently no vegetarian or vegan alternatives available - worth knowing before you book. The food ticket is 450 EUR per person (VAT included), which is charged in full at the time of reservation. Drinks are additional.


  • The Full Journey (450 EUR per person): The full meal. Around 15 courses. Four to five hours. The only option for food. Pre-paid at booking, deducted from the final bill on the day.
  • Wine Pairing (300 EUR per person): Led by the world's best sommelier (2023). Many bottles poured here are produced specifically for DiverXO and aren't available anywhere else. Worth it if you're doing the full experience.
  • Non-Alcoholic Pairing (250 EUR per person): A full liquid journey through the meal without alcohol. As carefully constructed as the wine pairing - not an afterthought.
Before You Go


Everything practical, honestly told


  • Address: NH Collection Eurobuilding, Calle de Padre Damián 23, Chamartín, Madrid 28036 (verify before visiting — relocation underway)
  • Phone: +34 915 70 07 66
  • Hours: Tuesday to Friday. Lunch: 1:30–4:00pm. Dinner: 9:30–11:30pm. Closed weekends.
  • Getting There: Metro line 10 to Cuzco, or line 9 to Colombia. A ten-minute taxi from Salamanca or the Retiro area. Easy from Paseo de la Castellana.
  • Bookings: diverxo.com — full prepayment of €450pp required at time of booking. Waiting list available for sold-out dates.
  • Cancellations: Tickets are transferable. Full refund if cancelled 14+ days in advance. No refund within 14 days. Final bill charges original number of diners, not adjusted for no-shows.
  • Dietary Needs: No vegetarian or vegan menus. Allergies can be flagged at time of booking. The team will be in touch before your visit to discuss requirements.
  • Duration: 4 to 5 hours. Plan around it — not before something else.
  • Dress: Smart but relaxed. There is no rigid code, but the room rewards intention. Punk and elegant coexist here — match the energy.
Things Worth Knowing


A few notes from people who've been


  • Book the moment availability opens: DiverXO sells out fast. There is a waiting list on the website - use it. Tables do come back from cancellations, and the website is the place to catch them. No industry shortcuts exist here: Muñoz famously serves whoever books in, full stop.
  • Read the dish cards carefully: Each course arrives with a card explaining what you're eating and sometimes how to eat it. This is not supplementary material - it's not part of the experience. Some dishes have an intended order, a specific bite sequence, or an element that needs to be used in a particular way. Follow the instructions.
  • Do the wine pairing: Miguel Ángel Millán was named the world's best sommelier in 2023 and has been at DiverXo for five years. Several of the bottles poured are made exclusively for the restaurant. This isn't a wine list with a markup - it's a parallel creative exercise to the food. If the budget allows, it's the right call.
  • Arrive hungry and unhurried: The meal takes up to five hours and there are no small courses. These are full, intensely flavored dishes - not nibbles. Arriving after a large lunch or along day of snacking is doing yourself a disservice.
  • Ask the team questions: The staff are young, passionate, and genuinely knowledgeable about what they're serving. Not because they were trained to answer questions, but because they care about the food. If something surprises you - a flavor, a technique, an ingredient - ask about it. They'll have an answer worth hearing.
  • Build your Madrid trip around it: DiverXO is open Tuesday to Friday only. Plan to stay in the city a few days - explore StreetXO and RavioXO (Muñoz's more accessible restaurants), eat at a taberna, drink vermouth somewhere old and tiled. The meal will land differently if Madrid has had a chance to get under your skin first.
  • Check the address before you travel: A move has been confirmed for within the next couple of years. Verify the current location at diverxo.com before you book anything - flights, hotels, all of it. The last place you want to discover the restaurant has relocated is on the day.
Why This Place


What DiverXO actually represents


DiverXO is not the easiest restaurant to love unconditionally. It is demanding, expensive, and utterly uninterested in making things simple for you. The food does not meet you halfway. You go to it. You follow the cards, use the horn, eat the pigs-skin sandwich with you hands while the moist cloth arrives, and by the time the cauliflower dessert shows up you have completely stopped second-guessing the kitchen.


That journey - from slightly bewildered to completely inside the experience - is the point. Muñoz has said his operating principle is "vanguard or die." The day DiverXO stops pushing is the day he shuts it down. He has been working 18-hour days since 2007, has walked away from a 14M EUR relocation project because the conditions felt like a cage, and has been known to spend years earning 1,000 EUR a month while running a team of 30 people and serving 30 covers a night. None of that reads as a a person in coasting.


"We showed young chefs that it is possible to open a restaurant without much investment. You just need to persevere with authenticity and not be afraid to take risks."

~ Dabiz Muñoz


The dishes carry that history. A blue crab course exists because it's an invasive species and Muñoz decided the kitchen help address that. A lobster dish arrives as a small sculpture because he wanted the whole table to understand what vindaloo and tandoori yogurt actually taste like when they meet the right Spanish seafood. Every dish is a question he decided to answer out loud, at a table, for whoever managed to get a reservation.


It matters also because of what it proved. In 2013, Madrid had not a three-starred restaurant in twenty years. Muñoz opened DiverXO with almost nothing, in a city where people told him this kind of cooking wouldn't find an audience, in a neighborhood with no particular culinary cachet. Then he built something that dragged the city's food culture forward with it - not just through the stars, but through the restaurants that followed, the chefs it inspired, the visitors who added Madrid to a list of cities that feed you honestly.


The pigs on the wall are a punchline that became a philosophy. Go, sit, eat something that sounds impossible and tastes like it was always inevitable. Come back if you can. The kitchen will have moved on to something new by then, and that's exactly the reason to return.