Dabiz Muñoz and the fish stew

PalmI've never been to a Dabiz Muñoz restaurant and I have no intention of doing so. I'm sure the food is delicious, but the names of his restaurants are unpronounceable, and I wouldn't know how to explain it to a taxi driver. DiverXO, StreetXO, RavioXO, GoXO. In any case, they sound a lot like the names of Elon Musk's children. The tycoon, among his fourteen children, has one named X Æ A-Xii (the four-year-old boy who became famous during one of his father's visits to the Oval Office) and a three-year-old daughter named Exa Dark Sideræl. Her mother, the singer Grimes, recently changed her name to just 'Y'. What a shame.

But let's not get sidetracked. Dabiz Muñoz also has a chain of airport restaurants called Hungry Club. As if to say: don't come if you're not really hungry. Incomprehensible; the marketing advisors weren't on point here. It's obvious it should have been called AeroporXO. I don't know if the chef plans to open it near Ibiza airport. It's the ideal location: there are drugs that make you incredibly hungry. What he will open in Ibiza is a branch of StreetXO (there are also locations in Madrid and Dubai), the 'street food' restaurant of the Madrid-born culinary genius. "Dabiz Muñoz continues to expand: his StreetXO will land in Ibiza this summer," the headline read. The VanguardThe StreetXO is the DiverXO but low costIt's Dabiz Muñoz's Hacendado. The news has caused a stir. Outside of Ibiza, I haven't heard anyone talking about it.

The new StreetXO will open next June inside The Unexpected Ibiza Hotel (owned by the Matutes family's Palladium Hotel Group). The same hotel where chef and TV presenter Gordon Ramsay also has one of his restaurants. I've been surprised by the extraordinary coverage the news has received. Besides the local media, I've been able to find it in Expansion, Hello!, The Vanguard, The Spanish, Brand, The Sixth, Cadena Ser, Vanitatis, Forbes, FaceFoodMag...; I could go on a bit longer. Every summer in Ibiza, two hundred Italians open two hundred new pizzerias, and they have to pay for advertisements if they want to get their ads in the newspapers. Clearly, they aren't the "world's most disruptive" chef (to use the magazine's expression). ForbesNor are they married to Cristina Pedroche.

On the menu at Madrid's StreetXO, you'll find 'Korean Lasagna,' 'Arbizu Chistorra Fried Wonton,' and a dish literally called 'A Cow Traveling from Thailand to Mexico.' Locally sourced products? Bah! I'm surprised Rosalía was accused of cultural appropriation, but no one says anything about Dabiz Muñoz. Muñoz is also responsible for several pans that have gone viral, including one that mixes chocolate, pigeons, and corn (and even rice!). Prices at Madrid's StreetXO are around 20 euros per dish. We'll see how they fare in Ibiza, because a night at The Unexpected Hotel in high season starts at 1,000 euros, without breakfast.

Let the fish stew begin!

What will happen when traditional Ibizan cuisine collides with Dabiz Muñoz's creative hyperactivity? Because it seems the chef has a compulsion to tinker with traditional cooking methods. From the cultural shipwreck of Ibiza, one of the few things that remain in relatively good condition is its gastronomy; Christmas sauce is still made in many homes, and it's cooked during Holy Week, and flaón (a type of flan) or fish stew (a bit adapted to foreign tastes) have become very popular dishes.

In Ibiza, as in the rest of the Balearic Islands, food makes us lose our minds. As an example, places to participate in the next edition of the Sant Antoni de Portmany Rice and Pork Competition sold out in two hours; 156 teams will participate on February 7th; this means thousands of people, between cooks and visitors. There isn't a town in Ibiza that doesn't have its own unique gastronomic event: the Maritime Fair, the Gerret Fair, the Fish and Seafood Fair, the Squid Fair... These are just a few of the events promoted by the Ibiza Fishermen's Guild. Local politicians are also making a point of promoting the local cuisine. This week, the Consell de Eivissa (Island Council of Ibiza) participated in the Madrid Fusión 2026 gastronomic fair with a proposal focused on locally sourced products, under the slogan 'Recovering the traditional flavors'. On the opening day, the chef from the S'Espartar restaurant prepared a menu featuring dried fish salad, fish stew with rice served separately, and flaón (a type of Ibizan cheesecake). And it just so happens that, almost simultaneously and at the same fair, Dabiz Muñoz was presenting his latest stroke of genius: a completely liquid tasting menu, titled 'Metamorphosis' (€450), conceived as a non-alcoholic pairing to accompany the DiverXO tasting menu (€5). €900 in total if you want the complete experience. The liquid menu includes kombuchas and fermented beverages, liquid reinterpretations of solid dishes, concentrated broths, soups, and preparations that play with textures and temperatures.

But what I'd really love is if, at the new StreetXO in Ibiza, they served tourists a proper cooked dish: with vegetables, chard, chalk, a generous drizzle of oil, lemon, and a sprinkle of sweet paprika. Without changing a single comma of the traditional recipe. And then they explained that this was the Madrid-based creator's new vegan dish, just to see their reaction. Now that would be an experiment. And I'd also love it if Dabiz Muñoz (recognized as the world's best chef three times) entered the Sant Antoni rice dish competition, along with the other 150 participants. It would be a great way to thank the people of Ibiza for their hospitality, a place that allows him to continue expanding his business and his bank account. Besides, who knows, maybe he'll even win.