What happens when a 3 Michelin Star Chef decides airport food shouldn't suck.
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Business
How a 3-Michelin-Star Chef Turned Airport Food into a Brand Funnel
Most chefs chase Michelin stars. Dabiz Muñoz already had three. What he wanted next wasn’t prestige—it was distribution.
After years of building high-end temples like DiverXO and StreetXO, Muñoz launched Hungry Club, a fast-casual concept inside Madrid-Barajas airport. Thousands of travelers walk past every hour, and he saw what few professionals do: that airports are the most underrated customer-acquisition channel on earth.
Instead of tasting menus, Hungry Club sells “Brioche Trufado,” “flat croissant,” and the famous “cheesecake de la Pedroche.” Same creative DNA, different tempo. No reservations, no ego, just throughput and visibility. Every traveler gets a bite of the brand—literally.
The brilliance isn’t culinary, it’s structural.
DiverXO serves maybe fifty guests a night.
Hungry Club feeds five thousand a day.
Each tray acts as a touchpoint. Each photo shared online extends his reach. It’s a brand funnel disguised as breakfast.
Muñoz is already expanding to more airports. The model works because it’s built on leverage: take the essence of what made you elite and package it for scale. That’s how a chef becomes a platform—and how professionals in any field can turn expertise into an empire.
Key takeaways
Democratize excellence: simplify your craft without diluting it.
Design for traffic: place your brand where attention already flows.
Scale the DNA, not the labor: keep the story consistent, even when the format changes.
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Photo: Dabiz Muñoz
