Madrid Chef David Muñoz Brings His Experimental Cuisine to London

One of Spain’s most acclaimed chefs is expanding to London this fall. Chef David Muñoz, the mohawk-sporting force behind perpetual Madrid hot spots DiverXO and StreetXO, is bringing the latter concept to London’s high-dollar Mayfair neighborhood in November.

StreetXO is the more casual, less expensive, and considerably more accessible of Muñoz’s two Madrid restaurants; DiverXO is the city’s only three Michelin star restaurant for which reservations must be made several months in advance (it’s currently booked through March 2017), while tables at StreetXO — located on the seventh floor of Madrid department store El Corte Ingles — can be had simply by walking in.

Muñoz, whom the New York Times once proclaimed Spain’s “culinary enfant terrible,” has described StreetXO as the "Cirque du Soleil of gastronomy.” Globe-trotting dishes at the London outpost will include kimchi croquetas with tuna steak and burnt butter, and a steamed club sandwich with ricotta, fried quail egg, and shichimi-togarashi.

Muñoz has previously said he’d like to open several locations of StreetXO around the world; he first revealed intentions for a London location back in 2014. “After moving to London when I was 21 and spending five years working in restaurants like Nobu and Hakkasan, I feel like this is my second home,” the chef said in a press release.

The London space is still under construction — expect “exposed pipework and salvaged fixtures from a container ship” coupled with neon lights and “dramatic artworks” — but yellow caution tape in the window alerts passers-by to what’s in store:

Last year the chef announced his intentions to open a branch in New York in 2016, but no further news has surfaced since, and a restaurant spokesperson was unable to offer any updates.

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