At the peak of success, Dabiz Muñoz is about to become a father. "I'm ready for it to change my life. As much as I'm still at the top, the concept of success tied to work has changed a lot for me. It used to be the only thing that mattered." And the renewed peacefulness is making a difference within the team.
At 43 years old, Dabiz Muñoz is the only three Michelin-starred chef in Madrid. He has also been awarded the title of the world's best chef by The Best Chefs Awards, two times in a row, and secured the third position in The 50 Best Restaurants list. In his celebrated restaurant, he oversees a team of 60 employees serving 38 guests during two services a day from Wednesday to Saturday. A vibrant cuisine, combining Asian and Latin American influences, street food, and, of course, Spanish cuisine.
It all started when he was 12 years old, his father took him to dine at the renowned restaurant Viridiana, owned by chef Abraham Garcia, which was at the forefront of culinary innovation in the city. It was love at first sight ("one day I will have a restaurant like this"), but his father's sarcasm froze his ambition ("yes, when pigs will fly"). However, his tasting menu at DiverXO is titled "la cocina de los cerdos voladores" (the flying pigs cuisine), a metaphor for the impossible becoming a reality. From that moment on, he began a continuous experimentation at home, combining new ingredients, not always successfully, yet, staying determined. "I've known all along that it was meant to be my destiny."
Recently, he found himself in the eye of the storm for the decision to raise the price of the tasting menu from 250 to 365 euros, justified as follows: "Good food is the most accessible luxury experience one can have today. If you go to a recital or watch Real Madrid, you pay a ticket that can start from 250 euros, and neither football nor music are things only for the rich. I gave up everything to cook. Everything means family, friends, leisure time. I suffered, haunted by the pursuit of perfection and success. I used to wake up very early and was always anxious. I weighed thirty kilos more than I do today: I ate voraciously because my relationship with work was very toxic. I started very young, and recognition came too early. When I received the third Michelin star, the atmosphere in my restaurant became unbearable."
"I come from a generation that was taught that a three-star restaurant must have a military structure. One day, my wife Cristina saw me getting angry, shouting, and hitting the table during service – something normal for me, a man raised to be macho. We had been together for three months, and she warned me: 'Tell me if you are the person I just saw because if that's the case, I'm leaving.' With time, you realize and say, 'Wow, she was right.' Now, no one yells here; the people who work with us want to stay because they feel good. We must do something right."
After achieving every ambition, now the priorities are different. "What matters to me is that we are good inside and out. I want my team to feel as important as the diners. You can't expect the waitstaff to have their best behavior, act magnificently with the customers if you don't treat them the same way: the 'treat them like kings at the expenses of yourself attitude doesn't work." In a year, DiverXo will move to a house in the middle of the woods, twenty minutes from Madrid. "It will be incredible for the customers, but also for the staff, who will be able to enjoy a large dining area and a patio. I am not the same person and cook as when I started. I want to break the rules again, and when people go there, they'll say, 'What a bastard, he did it again.' But in a bigger place, surrounded by green, where there's peace. It must be the age."
"I spend 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, cooking with my mind, creating combinations, testing things. Sometimes, I prepare a dish having tried the ingredients only separately. But I know it works. I'm at the stove because I like it; it costs me a lot to lock myself in a room to be creative. I prefer talking with the team: 'Let's do this, or rather that,' turning everything upside down, and at this level of creativity, I do it very well." However, the close fatherhood, will shake up the old habits "I'm ready for my life to change. I want to organize myself well, be with my son, and enjoy his growth. I got married at 27, and now I'm 43, and although I'm still at the top, the concept of success tied to work has changed considerably for me. Before, it was the only thing that mattered. Now, it remains my passion, but in recent years, with the help of a psychologist, I realized that life is much more than work. We only live once, and we must seek balance. I am happy to become a father, happy when I take a walk with my wife and friends. And the happier I am, the better I cook."
Cover photo: @Raùl Martinez
