StreetXO Dubai is more reminiscent of a theme park than a restaurant. The perfect interior setting for the fusion cuisine of Michelin-starred chef David Muñoz Rosillo, for whom LW Design has captured the atmosphere of the world’s most creative places.
He calls himself the ‘rock star chef with a mohawk’ and likes to stick his tongue out in photos. For his fans, however, his hairstyle and grimaces are a minor matter at best. David Muñoz Rosillo, aalso known as Dabiz Muñoz, is celebrated by them for his innovative fusion cuisine. The fact that you have to buy a ticket well in advance to visit his three Michelin-starred Restaurant DiverXO in Madrid, which was named the third best gourmet temple in the world in 2023, does nothing to dampen the cult of Muñoz. Especially as you are served so much more than ‘just’ a great meal.
Culinary theatre
The Spanish chef is always interested in surprise, development and pushing boundaries, and not just in the kitchen. He therefore serves his creations in a correspondingly imaginative setting – on a stage that extends far beyond the edge of the plate. One could almost speak of a culinary theatre, with the menu courses as acts and the unusual, surrealistic interior as a backdrop. Colourful flying pigs greet you in the entrance area and on the walls of the restaurant. All the tables are covered by translucent curtains. You dine as if in a cocoon that provides privacy without making you feel isolated.
The Michelin-starred chef also ‘democratised’ his ‘eat with your eyes’ vision in 2012. With StreetXO Madrid he opened a more informal, more accessible and, above all, more affordable street food concept modelled on Asian cookshops. Since 2023, it has been located on the 3rd floor of Corte Inglés on Calle Serrano. There is a red counter where guests are served directly by the chefs. Upside-down crates serve as bar stools. And sitting under dazzling neon signs, you feel more like you’re at a wet market in Hong Kong or a food alley in Singapore than in the Spanish metropolis.
Next stop: Dubai
The kitchen punk has now brought this all-round experience to the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates. In spring 2024, he opened StreetXO Dubai. The restaurant, which is almost reminiscent of a theme park for gourmets, is located on the 4th floor of the One&Only One Za’abeel Hotels. And like its Madrid role model, it invites guests on a sensory adventure.
The interior design of the StreetXO Dubai was an exciting challenge for LW Design. Founded in 1999, the multidisciplinary team with studios in Dubai, Hong Kong, São Paulo and Aarhus has an illustrious client list and a portfolio that includes hundreds of hotels and over 200 restaurants and bars worldwide. Until now, however, the company has tended to be classically elegant. Dabiz Muñoz’s brief, however, was to design a captivating 1,200 square metre space that would serve as an outlet for his creativity.
The essence of creativity
The chef’s vision was to create an ambience that invites guests to expect the unexpected. And to achieve this, the planners had to abandon their tried-and-tested drawers and reach into completely new boxes of tricks. What Pooja Shah-Mulani and her design team have conjured up is an interior that combines the street culture atmosphere of the world’s most creative places in one place: ‘The design reflects the colourful gallery scene of SoHo, captures the underground vibe and punk rock flair of Camden and shines in the dazzling lights of Tokyo’s Shinjuku entertainment district,’ says Pooja Shah-Mulani.
When you step through the container-inspired metal door, you are first greeted by playful round hanging chairs. Behind it, a zebra crossing, reflected in numerous mirrors, leads through a tunnel reminiscent of a back alley decorated with graffiti. Through this tunnel, you finally enter Muñoz’s circus-like world.
Magical hanging tables
Its centrepiece is the bar area, which is reminiscent of a laboratory with lava lamps and a labyrinth of metal pipes. The counter is made of fibreglass-reinforced plaster, which looks as if it were upholstered. The tables of the main dining room are grouped around it. Not all of them have legs. Some hang from the ceiling on metal rods, and acrobatic lamps ‘gymnastically’ hang above the heads of the guests. The dining area is divided by LED mirror screens that create the optical illusion of infinite reflections. On the floor, large areas of terrazzo interrupt the concrete flooring.
Rarely will you find a restaurant as full of theatrical elements and unexpected experiences as StreetXO Dubai.
JW Design
In the adjoining lounge, there is a collection of unique pieces of furniture and lamps in the shape of balloons and skulls. The list of designers reads like a who’s who of the interior design scene, from Kenneth Cobonpue and Jimmie Martin to Alex Garnett and David Pompa to Jean Paul Gaultier, Lelievre and Pierre Frey, who contributed the upholstery fabrics and wallpaper. The eccentric, playful ambience is complemented by a fabric wall with onyx frames as well as artworks and sculptures that seem to crawl through the curtains.
Horizontal order, vertical chaos
There is so much to see in StreetXO Dubai that it seems almost chaotic. But the dynamic, artistic chaos on the ceilings and walls is broken up by the horizontal order of the L-shaped layout and the structured room planning. Harmonious. This interplay of contrasts is also the motto of the culinary journey that Muñoz takes his guests on: A wild ride of flavours is served meticulously arranged. Whether sea urchin croquettes or dumplings with Peking duck: Muñoz’s kitchen produces abstract works of art.
Speaking of the kitchen: for a street food restaurant, it goes without saying that guests should have an insight into what is happening there. Accordingly, the main kitchen in StreetXO Dubai is also designed as an open stage. Pendant lights provide the right spotlight. And on the ledge above the counter, there are humorous sculptures of running men who seem to be constantly chasing chaos.
Behind the scenes
On the terrace – accessible through double doors on both sides of the restaurant, which ensure a smooth transition between the indoor and outdoor areas – themed design elements seamlessly continue the narrative. Acrobatic sculptures and art inspired by street culture can also be found here. And even ‘behind the scenes’, in the washrooms, the red design thread continues. Graffiti on the doors and make-up mirrors framed with light bulbs create a dynamic backstage atmosphere.
‘Rarely,’ the planners promise, “will you find a restaurant as full of theatrical elements and unexpected experiences” as StreetXO Dubai. LW Design has certainly lived up to its own claim of always fully realising its clients’ visions.
Successful pitch change
Where did Muñoz get his vision from? Only he knows. He certainly seems to have been a gifted dreamer even as a child. Although only 1.20 metres tall, he was determined to become a professional basketball player. In the end, it wasn’t enough for the sports field, even though he was still growing.
Instead of three-point casts, there is now three-star cuisine. A stroke of luck for the culinary world. And in the case of StreetXO Dubai, also for the design scene. Because even if the new Muñoz project does not (yet) have a Michelin star like the main restaurant in Madrid, it still shines brightly in Dubai’s interior sky.
Text: Daniela Schuster
Bilder: Ingrid Rasmussen
