Javier Bonet
Chef-entrepreneur behind Sala de Despiece and Sala Cero, trained under Gualtiero Marchesi in Milan over a career that began in a family bar in Mallorca.
- Restaurants
- 4
- Born
- 1971 · Palma de Mallorca
Javier Bonet is the chef behind Sala de Despiece, a Chamberí tapas restaurant he opened in 2013 and relocated in 2024, and Sala Cero, a creative restaurant he opened on Calle de Ayala in 2024. Born in Palma de Mallorca in 1971 to a family of fishermen and butchers, he trained under three-Michelin-star chef Gualtiero Marchesi in Milan, as well as with Michel Roux and Heinz Winkler, before building a group of projects that also includes Patrón Lunares in Palma de Mallorca.
Biography
Early years
Bonet was born in Palma de Mallorca in 1971. He grew up around a market environment, with a grandfather who was a fisherman and parents who worked as butchers, and started working in hospitality at 17, in a family bar in Mallorca.
Career
At 23 he led the kitchen team at three-Michelin-star chef Gualtiero Marchesi's restaurant in Milan, where he's said he learned the discipline and rigor for product quality; his training also took him to England with Michel Roux, to Germany with Heinz Winkler, and to Japan. Back in Spain, he built an itinerant career across both fine-dining and casual venues. In Mallorca he opened Patrón Lunares Cantina in 2012, in his home neighborhood of Santa Catalina, as a tribute to his family. In Madrid, he opened the original Sala de Despiece on Calle Ponzano in Chamberí in the summer of 2013, styled as a tribute to the neighbourhood's traditional tapas bars, with a bar-side seating format built around whatever was in season; he followed it with the interactive Academia de Despiece experience in January 2015 and the shape-shifting testing-ground space Muta on the same street. In 2024 Sala de Despiece moved to its current premises on Calle Alonso Cano, also in Chamberí, keeping the original's butcher-shop-inspired white decor and spirit, while he opened a separate venue, Sala Cero, with the adjoining cocktail bar Subcero, on Calle de Ayala in Madrid's Salamanca district that same year.
Javier Bonet in our guides
Editorial guides featuring Javier Bonet’s restaurants.
Frequently asked
Who is the chef at Sala de Despiece?
Javier Bonet, born in Palma de Mallorca in 1971, who trained under Gualtiero Marchesi in Milan before opening his own restaurants.
When did Sala de Despiece open?
The original opened on Calle Ponzano in the summer of 2013; it moved to its current Calle Alonso Cano location, also in Chamberí, in 2024.
What other restaurants has Javier Bonet opened?
Patrón Lunares in Palma de Mallorca, and in Madrid, Sala Cero with its cocktail bar Subcero, plus earlier projects Muta and the Academia de Despiece experience.
Where did Javier Bonet train?
At 23 he led the kitchen team at Gualtiero Marchesi's three-Michelin-star restaurant in Milan; he also trained with Michel Roux in England and Heinz Winkler in Germany, and spent time cooking in Japan.
Where is Javier Bonet from?
He was born in Palma de Mallorca in 1971, to a family of fishermen and butchers, and started in hospitality at 17 in a family bar in Mallorca.
What is Sala Cero?
Javier Bonet's second Madrid restaurant, opened on Calle de Ayala in Salamanca in 2024, with an adjoining cocktail bar, Subcero, on its lower floor.