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Madrid’s food scene is currently defined by density, confidence and range. The city holds around thirty five Michelin stars across Madrid and the wider region, yet the real culinary intelligence lies in how fine dining, neighbourhood restaurants, markets and bars operate within the same daily rhythm. Eating here remains social and deliberate, shaped by repetition, return and long familiarity between kitchens and their audiences.
At the summit, DiverXO continues to place Madrid firmly on the international culinary map under Dabiz Muñoz, whose restless approach and technical ambition keep the city present in global food conversations. Around this apex, Madrid’s reputation is further shaped by chefs whose work defines contemporary Spanish cooking today. Diego Guerrero, at DSTAgE, is widely respected for his research-led, open-kitchen approach that blends precision with intellectual curiosity. Mario Sandoval, leading Coque, represents a rigorous, multi-generational interpretation of Spanish cuisine, grounded in technique, science and product. Javi Estévez, at La Tasquería, has reframed Madrid’s relationship with offal, turning traditional nose-to-tail cooking into one of the city’s most distinctive contemporary statements.
The deeper strength of Madrid’s dining culture sits in its everyday restaurants. Chefs such as Rafa Zafra and Lucía Grávalos contribute to a landscape that values produce, memory and atmosphere, with dining rooms conceived for longevity and regular return. Attention to proportion, acoustics and materiality reinforces the idea that food and space operate together.
Markets and bars remain essential to this ecosystem. Neighbourhood mercados and traditional tabernas continue to structure daily life, shaping how people eat across the day through shared counters, small plates and informal service. Contemporary kitchens draw directly from this environment, refining familiar flavours while keeping their social cadence intact.
What has emerged is a city cooking with assurance across every level. Michelin-starred dining, chef-led neighbourhood kitchens and long-standing bars coexist fluidly, supported by a public that understands food as a shared cultural practice. Madrid’s culinary renaissance is built through depth, continuity and daily use, securing its place as one of Europe’s most compelling cities to eat now.
Michelin-starred Osip in Bruton, Somerset, from chef Merlin Labron-Johnson, pairs farm-to-fork dining with boutique rooms. A soulful retreat where food, design and Somerset terroir create a singular cultural escape.
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Albin Widmann is Chef at the Seehotel Ambach, the cult lakeside refuge on Caldaro Lake's shores in South Tyrol. Dramatic nature, funky interiors, and an architectural landmark are also a famed bolthole for good food connoisseurs.
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A slow-food philosophy that Chef Massimo Geromel describes as 'keeping things simple, pure and rooted', he presides over the culinary realms of the MIRAMONTI, a style hotel and spa destination in Avelengo/Hafling, South Tyrol/Alto Adige.
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Alessandro Parisi is a true foodie, and Italy's culinary culture runs deep through his kitchen soul. Born in Naples, Alessandro Parisi is, since 2016, at the epicurean helm on Lake Como's shores at the Filario Hotel & Residences in Lezzeno.
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From Burgenland to Vienna, Taubenkobel’s VOGELFREI lands at Atelier Augarten, where Barbara Eselböck and Alain Weissgerber craft a poetic union of food, art and unbound culinary freedom.
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Get the insider news and lowdown on what we've been up to, where we've been, and who we've met along the way. Be the first to discover new places and get the scoop on our favourites.