The Madrid Chef Who Learned to Say No

In Madrid, which is no stranger to sought-after bookings, few seats are harder to come by than those at Ugo Chan, an open-kitchen counter in the Chamartín district. There, chef Hugo Muñoz serves meticulous, Japanese-minded cooking without leaving his Madrid roots behind. When Ugo Chan opened in 2022, recognition came quickly: a Michelin star followed just eight months after launch. But Muñoz says it was no overnight success. He had spent more than two decades in other kitchens before opening a restaurant of his own. What he learned more than anything in that process was the power of saying no: to dishes without a strong idea, to techniques that don’t make food taste better, to elements that are only decorative, to overcomplication. At Ugo Chan, he says, editing matters as much as creating. “A cook is worth much more for what he chooses not to serve than for what he does serve,” he says. Another lesson is that people don’t go to restaurants simply to eat well. “They go to have a good time,” he says, “to forget about their problems. They go to talk with their friends.” At a time when restaurants talk endlessly about technique, provenance, and storytelling, Muñoz keeps returning to something more basic: the person sitting across the counter is there, first of all, to enjoy themselves. Continue reading Access this and all our other premium articles by joining our membership program. Plans start at $6.50 per month and include twice-weekly digital features, access to in-person events, and more. Small-group trips with R&KJourney alongside chefs, raconteurs, and Roads & Kingdoms for the deepest culinary tours on earth. Northern Italy CDMX Sri Lanka All Trips Up Next Can Asparagus Be Optimized? Newsletter R&K Newsletter Join our newsletter to get exclusives on where our correspondents travel, what they eat, where they stay. Free to sign up.