DiverXO, Madrid: Where Culinary Restraint Goes to Die — and Good Riddance
In Madrid stands DiverXO , a three-Michelin-star monument to the idea that food should hit you like a freight train rather than whisper politely in your ear. Depending on which ranking you consult, it’s sometimes called the best restaurant in the world. I didn’t come for rankings. I came to see whether the most hyped chef in Europe is actually worth surrendering an entire month’s rent for dinner. The man in question, Dabiz Muñoz , looks like someone who could host a punk radio show at 3 a.m., yet cooks with the precision of a neurosurgeon. On social media, he describes Valencian paella and Malaysian laksa with such erotic enthusiasm that you start to think restraining orders should exist for ingredients. If he can bring that unhinged passion to 20 plated courses without losing the plot, I thought, then perhaps he really is a wizard. Complexity With Intent, Not Chaos The meal unfolds at a merciless pace — not with tiny tweezer food, but big, muscular, unapol...
