Background:
The first thing you notice when walking through the revolving door into DiverXO (Pronounced Diver-zou) are the flying pigs and giants ants that line the walls and the staircase on the way up to the main dining room. Like most things at DiverXO, everything has a purpose and a meaning. Flying Pigs? This is a tribute to chef Dabiz Muñoz’s ambition. He told his dad when he was young that he would be the best chef in the world. His dad, being pragmatic, told him that it’s more likely pigs would fly. The Ants? They symbolize teamwork, as it takes an entire team running full cylinder in order to pull off the great dining experience that DiverXO delivers.
Thoughtful and deliberate. That’s what I kept thinking in my mind as we progressed through the meal at DiverXO. Each dish was so complex, had so much meaning, that I felt like I was only touching the surface of each dish. I’m a golfer, so bear with me on this analogy, but how great golf courses set themselves apart from good or average courses is their ability to get better each time you play them. You learn the nuances of the holes, understand the progression of the course, and get a greater understanding and appreciation for what the architect was intending when they designed the course as a whole. Of all the famous restaurants in the world which we have been, DiverXO felt the most like this to me. You know when you are experiencing it for the first time that it’s a great restaurant, and for most, including us, this will probably be the only time we ever get to experience DiverXO, but I think if you’re lucky enough to go a few times the experience will only elevate and grow with each passing visit. There are very few restaurants in the world you can say that about.
The head chef, Dabiz Muñoz, grew up in Madrid and from an early age he knew he wanted to be a chef. He was influenced greatly by Chef Abraham García of Viridiana in Madrid, where his father would take him frequently, and where he felt Chef García “turned his own visions and style into a reality. I knew that that’s exactly what I wanted to do one day.” He enrolled in a local hospital school near Madrid post graduation and eventually made his way to London, where he worked at Hakkasan and Nobu. He then moved back to Madrid and opened DiverXO in 2007. DiverXO received it’s first Michelin Star in 2010, it’s second in 2012, and it’s third in 2013, when Dabiz was only 33 years old. He was the second youngest chef ever to receive three stars and brought back to Madrid a third star which the city had not had for over 20 years. It is currently the only three Michelin starred restaurant in Madrid and is ranked #4 in the world on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants List.
Eat This:
DiverXO only has one tasting menu which is titled “La Cocina de los Cerdos Voladores,” or the Flying Pig Cuisine in English. Each dish is served with either a detailed picture of the dish or a written out explanation, so it’s easy to follow along while eating to know what’s going on. The pictures were amazing works of art in themselves, and we have already framed a few for our wall of menus we keep in the guest bedroom. They also presented the pictures before each dish was brought out, which helped with pacing as we were able to read and discuss what was going to be coming out which killed some down time that normally exists at these tasting menu restaurants. Buckle up to your pig with wings and hang on for the ride.
Nigiri Madurado Del Pirineo
The first dish of the night was three main ingredients showcased in one. The first was rice, which is prepared three ways, a crispy rice couscous, as gnocci, and infused with black garlic. It sits next to the Pyrenean trout, which is served raw as well as dry aged for 45 days. Served in a broth is the “river crab”, which looks a lot what we would call a crawfish in America.
TOPSY TURVY WORLD…FROSTY SALAD FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE FRIDGE AND ITS SEA GARNISH
This was a play on a crapy salad that had been sitting on the bottom of the fridge. It was a lettuce granita with tomato heart seeds, creamy sweet-and-sour olive oil dresses, and rocket and steamed edamame. It was served with a side of turbot grilled yakitori style only on the skin side, to create two different textures on the same piece of meat.
Mystery
This was a brand new dish for the menu and they didn’t have a card for it yet, so I don’t know exactly what this was, but it was meant to symbolize Chef Munoz’s first trip with his one year old daughter to Singapore. It tasted good and was served in a fruit which Yvonne knows the name of, but she isn’t around to tell me so it will, for perpetuity, remain a mystery to me.
Drunk Crabs party by Jerez
Blue crab cooked in a traditional Chinese way with kimchi ice cream and a screwer of wild strawberries.
The blue crab is an evasive species to Spain, so DiverXO wants to serve it in order to try and eradicate it from the country. The cold kimchi ice cream pair nicely with the creamy crab.
ASTURIAS AND YUCATAN
Skate wing chop with acidulated parmesan whey and Melipona honey in a chile morita colored mole.
One of the coolest presentations of the night, in a long list of cool presentations. The clear bowl sits atop different colored flower petals, giving it a very South American vibe.
Two Varieties of Caviar
This dish contains one vegetable made of tender peas which are flash fried quickly in a very hot wok and the fish caviar which is cooked in a tandoori oven. It’s served with two Andalusian sauces: the white one is made with macadamia nuts, coconut, and horseradish, and the green consists of pistachios and jalapeños.
I think this dish could be served at any modern restaurant in the world and be the absolute signature dish. What a bold and uniqueness of flavors.
Espardenyas in Wok 8 Seconds
Espardenyas, bonito tartare, Canarian potatoes, in a scorpionfish broth.
Espardenyas are closely related to the sea cucumber. The al dente tenderness of the meat was outstanding.
Minutejo Del Agus
crispy pork skin wrap with pork head fungi, pecorino cheese, and cured goose egg yolk.
This dish is meant to be a play on the sandwiches Munoz’s dad would make for him as a child, except now it’s elevated with suckling pig, pecorino, homemade sriracha, and forest-inspired pesto.
Fried barnacle Thai Curry
Fried egg with puntilla taco, acidulated flowers and fine herbs mojo “tigre que llora”
The only other time we had barnacle was at Enigma in Barcelona. The star of this dish was the taco, which had egg yolk and corn in it, tasting very earthy and refreshing.
Cantabric Icons
According to our waiter, the most rare and hard to get ingredient on the whole menu was the rooster from Cantabria (province in north Spain). It’s served with al dente “pasta” eels, ravioli, and of course fried rooster skin. This was the outstanding dish of the night for me.
Spanish Bull
Ox tail crunchy ravioli and black mole with roasted marrow, sweet chili andniboshi. Soup of sour and spicy galician ox boullon with black vinegar and penja pepper infusion. You drank the soup out of the horn, which gave us the #vikingfeels.
Lobster Rising on the Beaches of Goa
This dish is an ode to Indian Cuisine. A Pani puri is served in an elephant vessel (see below). Lobster is presented on the plate with various indian curries and sauces, as well as beet
The Bottom of the Pot Leftovers
Similiar to the first salad, this dish is meant to emulate the best of a dish with the crunchy, “bottom of the plate” leftovers. Wild boar ribs are served with truffles and the vegetables are “overcooked” to be extremely carmalized.
Toasted Butter Risotto with Tuber Aestivum
Both desserts were amazing, but this was my favorite. Rice pudding is cooked like risotto, creamed with brown butter, white pepper, nutmeg, and beetroot. It was served with ice cream and shaved white truffles.
Blackcurrent Bubblegum
Coconut ganache, black garlic, blackcurrant bubblegum and liquorice, served with coconut ash and yuzu ice cream.
This dish was meant to bring back your childhood with a bubblegum flavor. I am NOT a bubblegum guy, but the flavor was subtle and the mixture of liquorice and yuzu really balanced this dish out.
Japanese BonBons
Spicy Chocolate, Cookies Dunked in Milk, Tiramisu, and Calmansi Curd
To end the night we were given different flavored mochis. All of them were delicious, but I especially liked the spicy chocolate.
Drink This:
Okay we are bad and not big drinkers, so we didn’t partake in any of the wines from Miguel Angel Millán, 2023 Best Sommelier according to World’s 50 Best Restaurants; however, we did have €18 cocktails to start the meal which were good but nothing to write home about.
Atmosphere:
The atmosphere at DiverXO whimsical, fun, dramatic, while still feeling a bit upscale and traditional at the same time. There are white tablecloths, but on the white tablecloths are chain-clad pigs and giant metal ants. Each table is enclosed by a white linens, so you have privacy but you can also look into the main room and still get a sense of what is going on around you. Flying pigs are on the wall, accented by probably the most comfortable white chairs you could ever sit on.
Yvonne loved everything about it and thought it was one of the coolest restaurant setups she’s been to. For me something was missing that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I think I wanted it to be more bold and wild to even more match the food that was coming out in front of us. It was a little too white for me - maybe a little two sterile? This is very nit-picky, as I thought overall the individual playoff accents really heightened the meal.
The Hardware
Flying Pig City
Ants Marching
The elephant plate
Madrileños Hospitality:
The service at DiverXO is top notch and exactly what you would expect from a three Michelin Starred restaurant. The attentiveness was amazing, and the attention to detail outstanding. I am left handed, and they had my silverware placed on my left hand for the first dish before they even saw me use a untensil. I’m still trying to figure out how they know I was left handed so early - maybe it was the way I drank my glass of water? That was incredible. Yvonne dropped her napkin on the ground at one point and a waiter in one motion while carrying away some dishes picked it up almost as soon as it hit the ground. As they say in show business, 3 stars no notes on the service from these pugs.
Jeff’s Notes:
Madrid is hot as the backside of a Mastiff in the summer - try to avoid at all costs; Flying pigs are cool, but flying pugs? Now we’re talking; We continue to be the only people who show up to 3 Mich restaurants by walking over an hour each way, and this sometimes leads to us not looking our best when showing up, but it does make us hungrier when we get there; DiverXO is right next to the Bernabeu where Real Madrid play, so naturally I made Yvonne go in there which she loved; We found a Spanish brand called “El Pulpo” because who doesn’t love a funky Octopus as a logo? If you are into food, Spain has to be on your top 5 destinations - you literally can’t get a bad meal here.
Rating: 5 out of 5 with 3 Michigan Pugs
Yvonne and I both agreed that DiverXo is a top five meal that we’ve had together since we started on our crazy food journey together back in AD 2015. There was not a miss on the menu, and the stories that were being told by each dish were very unique and you could tell that Muñoz and team have spent a lot of time and energy making each dish perfect. There is also a passion and genuine-ness that comes through the plate to the dinner. Some places you go and you can kind of tell that the head chef has moved on and the restaurant is just playing the hits, but not at DiverXO, which even though it’s approaching 15 years is still improving and getting better each year. It’s a must visit if you’re in Madrid, and a restaurant that should be on your short list to plan a visit around in the next few years, as I can only imagine it will climb to #1 restaurant in the world over the next half decade.
