The story
Chef Lucia Grávalos cooks the food she remembers. At Desborre, her restaurant near the Teatro Real in Madrid, that means a contemporary Spanish cuisine rooted in the produce of small, regenerative farms and the traditions of her childhood in La Rioja. “A kitchen of memory under an absolute commitment to the land,” she says.
Grávalos grew up in her grandmother Ana Mari’s kitchen, then trained under Martín Berasategui, Dani García, and Álvaro Salazar. Her talent earned early recognition – Cocinera Revelación 2021 by Guía Metropoli, a Sol Repsol, and a place among Vanitatis’ “25 most important chefs in Spain.” In 2026, Desborre was awarded a Michelin Recommended.
The menu changes with the seasons, anchored by vegetables from ecological orchards, free-range livestock, and sustainable seafood. The carta is divided into Bar, Huerta (garden), Mar (sea), Pasto (pasture), and Postre (dessert). Alongside, Grávalos works daily with preserves, cured meats, ferments, kombuchas, and shrubs – all in service of a “modern kitchen of memory.”
The restaurant itself is a careful restoration. Grávalos worked with local artisans – woodworkers, ironworkers – to reclaim bricks, beams, doors, and mirrors. The result is a warm, textured room that houses a maturation chamber and displays works by artists Barjola and Luis Feito, set simply against 1900s brick.
The protection of soil is central to the project. Grávalos collaborates with suppliers like De Yerba, a collective of regenerative artisans, and local growers such as Sapiens Sostenible, who deliver vegetables daily by electric vehicle. The goal is not to return to the past, but to create an agriculture that doesn’t break the carbon cycle.
Desborre is a restaurant that thinks about the future of the planet while serving plates that taste of the present. It’s a place for everyone, where eating well and thinking about tomorrow are one and the same.
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