A meal at DiverXO is a journey into the wildly creative mind of the chef Dabiz Munoz. It’s a long – 17 courses long to be exact – experience of non-stop amazement. By the end, the exceptional becomes mundane.
I was confused and had never seen the word “hedonistic” used to describe a meal before, but I fully understood what it meant walking out of the restaurant. The flavors are consistently heavy, sampling unabashedly from exotic luxuries like tomalley or brain, and can be queasy at times. There are no refreshing or light courses nor familiarities like bread or palate cleansers; it’s all about intense flavors, and ultimately, fat.
In addition to *hedonistic*, the cuisine of Chef Munoz can perhaps be described as fantastical, incorporating pan-Asian inspirations with mostly Spanish ingredients. The Chef is a master at taking an original concept and creatively augmenting it so much that it changes personalities. Take the soup dumpling at DiverXO: the Chef preserves the iconically bursting and porky qualities of the dumpling by using Iberian pork, yet adds peppermint for a subtle refreshing flavor. He then adds chewy pil-pil squid noodles and rockfish flakes to introduce creaminess and crunchiness to the bite. The end result looks nothing like a soup dumpling especially with the edible flowers atop, but at the same time the thesis remains unchanged.
Dining at DiverXO is the experience to end all fine-dining experiences; every course is wonderfully stimulating and often with multiple parts. Overstimulating, in fact, that I wished it would end already by the second last savory course. In a vacuum, each dish would be excellent, hedonistically rich with masterful technique, but all together it became overbearing. I felt like I had hit my quota for fine dining for the next year after my 5-hour long meal.
This really looks special, it’s no wonder it’s regarded as one of the very best in Spain. Seems it has enough ideas and flavours for two tasting menus…though I take your point about it being overwhelming after a while.
mehnotsure
I found just the opposite. Was pretty sloppy and contrived when I dined.
3 Comments
A meal at DiverXO is a journey into the wildly creative mind of the chef Dabiz Munoz. It’s a long – 17 courses long to be exact – experience of non-stop amazement. By the end, the exceptional becomes mundane.
I was confused and had never seen the word “hedonistic” used to describe a meal before, but I fully understood what it meant walking out of the restaurant. The flavors are consistently heavy, sampling unabashedly from exotic luxuries like tomalley or brain, and can be queasy at times. There are no refreshing or light courses nor familiarities like bread or palate cleansers; it’s all about intense flavors, and ultimately, fat.
In addition to *hedonistic*, the cuisine of Chef Munoz can perhaps be described as fantastical, incorporating pan-Asian inspirations with mostly Spanish ingredients. The Chef is a master at taking an original concept and creatively augmenting it so much that it changes personalities. Take the soup dumpling at DiverXO: the Chef preserves the iconically bursting and porky qualities of the dumpling by using Iberian pork, yet adds peppermint for a subtle refreshing flavor. He then adds chewy pil-pil squid noodles and rockfish flakes to introduce creaminess and crunchiness to the bite. The end result looks nothing like a soup dumpling especially with the edible flowers atop, but at the same time the thesis remains unchanged.
Dining at DiverXO is the experience to end all fine-dining experiences; every course is wonderfully stimulating and often with multiple parts. Overstimulating, in fact, that I wished it would end already by the second last savory course. In a vacuum, each dish would be excellent, hedonistically rich with masterful technique, but all together it became overbearing. I felt like I had hit my quota for fine dining for the next year after my 5-hour long meal.
*review of each course below*
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This really looks special, it’s no wonder it’s regarded as one of the very best in Spain. Seems it has enough ideas and flavours for two tasting menus…though I take your point about it being overwhelming after a while.
I found just the opposite. Was pretty sloppy and contrived when I dined.