Despite DiverXO's tasting menu being the most expensive in Spain (365 euros), Dabiz Muñoz's group recorded over 3 million euros in losses in 2022 and was saved only thanks to the government's tax moratorium. However, investments are not stopping: the next opening is StreetXO in Dubai.
The news
It's a kind of long COVID that afflicts the restaurant industry, even at its highest levels. In recent days, it has been reported that the Pig Wings holding company, which encompasses Dabiz Muñoz's restaurants, recorded a loss of over 3 million dollars in 2022 (a year in which the chef was confirmed at the top of world rankings). This was due to repeated lockdowns and the permanent closure of StreetXO London. The restaurant, opened in March 2020, lasted only a few months due to disagreements among the partners, who sold their shares. The much-debated increase in the three-star menu price, from 250 to 365 euros, certainly didn't make up for the gap.
The salvation came only thanks to the tax moratorium decreed by the government led by Pedro Sanchez - as reported by elespanol.com - to address the consequences of the war in Ukraine, which allowed avoiding bankruptcy or the need for new credits and capital. In practice, the measure means that the losses recorded in 2020 and 2021 will not be calculated in the three subsequent budgets. There is time until the end of 2024 to return to balance, especially since, while the effects of the pandemic have gradually waned, the outbreak of the war has once again shaken the economy.
Optimism is still present in Madrid, thanks in part to the arrival of two new ventures, RavioXO, dedicated to pasta, and StreetXO, focused on international street food. There is also the upcoming adventure in Dubai, the ultimate gastronomic Mecca, where Muñoz is about to open another StreetXO at The Link at One Za'abeel. The concept is the same: a reinterpretation of high cuisine through the lens of international street food, in a setting that is both informal and avant-garde.
The fusion of Spanish and Asian influences is at the heart of the chef's cuisine and finds a different expression here, more popular. The restaurant's Instagram account already exists, but the details are still top secret, including the date of that "Coming soon" dated September 8th under the chef's crest. In the post the following day, he is seen straddling a large kitchen outlined in red lights, still wrapped up, already sticking out his tongue to impress sheikhs and emirs.
