DiverXO – one of the craziest restaurants in the world

The year is 2014.

A video appears on YouTube that is arguably the best piece ever made about new-wave fine dining. Ten minutes of pure madness – a calling card for what was then a brand-new restaurant, DiverXO, and its chef Dabiz Muñoz.

A clip an entire generation of young chefs and foodies grew up on.

The year is 2026.

Getting into DiverXO is close to impossible. Dabiz Muñoz is now one of the most important chefs not only in Spain, but in the world – the holder of three Michelin stars and ranked fourth on the list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

And also someone who seems to understand the very idea of flavour on a completely different level.

Laksa made from kohlrabi milk with galangal, shrimp heads and yakitori, grilled cheeks, and garam masala chutney – the very first starter knocks you flat with one simple question: how on earth does this man’s mind work?

Honestly, in my entire life no restaurant has ever made me fall in love so completely from the very first dish.

Duck nuggets and river crayfish that you have to search for among leaves – an experience that’s not only visually striking, but deeply immersive.

A special kind of love goes to the absolutely mind-blowing frozen ceviche, mixing Peru, Thailand, and sheer genius.

Icy flakes made using the kakigori technique, tiger’s milk, cinnamon, shrimp, semi-dried tomatoes, kaffir lime, ginger, Kalamata olives, and a spiced latte as the pairing – absolute greatness.

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This is Dabiz’s approach, and it’s everywhere. And what’s particularly charming is that he isn’t afraid to share it all: before each dish, a large card lands on the table with descriptions, ingredients, ideas, and small sketches – everything laid out honestly and transparently. It’s the kind of thing you still can’t copy, no matter how hard you try.

The menu is packed with Asian influences and bold, highly individual combinations. Red mullet with burnt-butter foam, kimchi ice cream, and baby octopus; char siu pork made from wild boar with bao and fermented beans; soba with burnt-tomato consommé, tempura shrimp, and a dozen different herbs.

Just when you think it’s physically impossible to come up with anything else, they stage a full tableside show, preparing paella nigiri with rabbit brain or serve a not-pad-thai with lobster and peanut snow.

The “leftovers” green curry with aged whisky and bergamot topped with white truffle is on a whole different level altogether. Almost everything here operates on an utterly cosmic level of gastronomy.

And finally, a separate mention for the liquid cuisine menu that Dabiz presented at Madrid Fusión.

A dense concentration of techniques, fermentations, behind-closed-doors work, and yet another dose of wild ideas.

Among them (start counting): churros blitzed in a siphon, champagne yeast, emulsified vanilla butter, or a genmaicha kombucha with seaweed and matcha.

And of course, the drink of the evening: wine made from hare’s blood, cherry, and hibiscus. A completely mind-bending thing that sounds almost exactly the way it tastes – like pure genius.