🇪🇸 Spain · Spanish cuisine · b. 1980
Madrid-born chef of DiverXO; named The Best Chef in the World 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Dabiz Muñoz (born David Muñoz; he uses the Andalusian spelling Dabiz) is a Spanish chef and restaurateur, born in Madrid in 1980. He attended the Escuela Superior de Hostelería y Turismo de Madrid and spent his early twenties working in London at Hakkasan, Nobu London and Nahm under David Thompson — three of the most important East-Asian fine-dining restaurants in Europe at the time. The decision to train in London rather than in classical Spanish or French kitchens shaped the entire direction of his career: his cooking is built much more on the techniques of Cantonese, Japanese and Thai cuisine than on the Spanish haute tradition.
In 2007, with his then-partner Ángela Montero, he opened DiverXO in the Tetuán neighbourhood of Madrid — a tiny restaurant in a former pharmacy, named to evoke divertimento (entertainment) and XO sauce. The cooking from the start was a hybrid of Madrid produce, Chinese dim-sum technique, Thai chile balancing and Japanese fish work, served in fast, theatrical sequences with cartoon-strip plating. DiverXO earned a first Michelin star in 2010, a second in 2012, and a third in 2014 — at which point Muñoz, aged thirty-three, became the youngest Spanish chef ever to hold three Michelin stars.
DiverXO moved to a larger location in the NH Eurobuilding hotel in 2014 and has remained one of the most discussed and most divisive restaurants in Europe. Muñoz was named The Best Chef in the World by The Best Chef Awards in 2021, 2022 and 2023 — three consecutive years, a feat no other chef has achieved. He runs the casual StreetXO concept in Madrid and London (closed 2020), and the more recent RavioXO (a dim-sum-focused concept inside El Corte Inglés in Madrid, opened 2023).
Muñoz is also a significant public figure in Spain — frequently in the tabloid press because of his long marriage to and divorce from singer Cristina Pedroche, and as a vocal critic of Spanish restaurant industry economics, having opened public arguments about Madrid's wage and rent structures relative to those of London and New York.
Spanish haute cuisine spent the elBulli decade defining itself in opposition to French technique. Muñoz argues that the next move is to define it against the entire world: he treats Cantonese dim sum, Thai chile balancing and Japanese fish work as equal partners to Spanish ingredients, with no hierarchy between them. He has been blunt in interviews that DiverXO is built to provoke disagreement and that he is not interested in restaurants designed to be 'liked'.
Three Michelin stars. Muñoz's flagship; named The Best Restaurant in the World by The Best Chef Awards' associated rankings.
Dim-sum and noodle-focused concept opened 2023.
Casual standing-counter restaurant; London location operated 2016–2020.
Delivery-only concept launched during the pandemic, since expanded.
These recipes from our database reflect the spanish cooking tradition that Dabiz works in. They are not direct reproductions of Dabiz's copyrighted recipes, but traditional dishes inspired by the same culinary heritage.
“I am not a Spanish chef. I am a chef who happens to be from Madrid.”
— Interview, El País
“If everyone likes a restaurant, the restaurant is mediocre.”
— Interview, The World's 50 Best
Begins studies at the Escuela Superior de Hostelería y Turismo de Madrid.
Moves to London; works at Hakkasan, Nobu London and Nahm under David Thompson.
Opens DiverXO in the Tetuán neighbourhood of Madrid with Ángela Montero.
DiverXO earns its first Michelin star.
DiverXO earns its second Michelin star.
DiverXO earns its third Michelin star at the NH Eurobuilding location; Muñoz becomes the youngest Spanish chef to hold three stars.
Opens StreetXO in London (Old Burlington Street).
Launches GoXO delivery-only concept during the pandemic; StreetXO London closes.
Named The Best Chef in the World for the first time.
Wins The Best Chef in the World for the third consecutive year; opens RavioXO in Madrid.
Dabiz Muñoz (born David Muñoz) is a Madrid-born chef and the chef-owner of DiverXO, a three-Michelin-star restaurant in Madrid. He was named The Best Chef in the World by The Best Chef Awards in 2021, 2022 and 2023 — three consecutive years, the only chef ever to achieve that.
DiverXO serves a hybrid cuisine built mainly on East and Southeast Asian techniques — Cantonese dim sum, Thai chile balancing, Japanese fish work, Sichuan heat — applied to Spanish ingredients. The plating is deliberately cartoon-like, the service is fast and theatrical, and the entire format is built to provoke surprise and disagreement rather than classical comfort.
He uses the Andalusian/non-standard Spanish spelling 'Dabiz' instead of 'David' as a personal stylistic choice. He has used the spelling since the early days of DiverXO and it is now the only spelling he uses professionally.
Muñoz studied at the Escuela Superior de Hostelería y Turismo de Madrid and then spent his early twenties working in London, at Hakkasan, Nobu London and Nahm under David Thompson. The decision to train in London at three of the most important Asian-cuisine restaurants in Europe, rather than at Spanish or French haute kitchens, shaped his entire culinary direction.
He was married to Spanish television presenter and singer Cristina Pedroche from 2015. The couple has frequently been in the Spanish tabloid press throughout the marriage. They are also professional collaborators: Pedroche co-authored Muñoz's 2022 book on chrononutrition.
Read more on Wikipedia