Lucía Grávalos
Chef and founder of Desborre, a regenerative, zero-waste restaurant in Madrid holding one Sol from Guía Repsol.
- Repsol Soles
1- Restaurants
- 1
- Born
- 1989 · Calahorra
Lucía Grávalos is a Riojana chef, born in Calahorra in 1989, who trained under Martín Berasategui, Dani García and Álvaro Salazar. After her first Madrid restaurant, Mentica, won the Metrópoli Prize for Revelation Chef and a Sol Repsol, she opened Desborre in February 2024 as her own, more personal project. Desborre holds one Sol from Guía Repsol and is built around a regenerative, zero-waste philosophy organised into five menu pillars: Bar, Garden, Sea, Pasture and Dessert.
From @lu_gravalos_lopez on Instagram
Volvemos con todo.🤟🏻🌱💚 Y, como veis, Lucía ya está probando, maquinando y preparando para que septiembre llegue exactamente como queremos. Además, os hemos escuchado. Y sí: hemos preparado un menú del día de martes a viernes al mediodía. Pero ya sabéis que en Desborre no sabemos hacer las cosas “
🌱FERMENTOS🌱 El Aspergillus oryzae ha penetrado perfectamente en el interior del garbanzo. Eso quiere decir que tiene una gran actividad enzimática, ideal para elaborar misos y salsas con mucho umami y complejidad. 🫣 Miso de garbanzos Garum vegetal Mantequilla de garbanzos fermentado Estás son nue
👩🏻🚒¿Qué tiene que ver lo que comemos con los incendios, la sequía o la biodiversidad de nuestros mares? Mucho más de lo que pensamos. Cuando elegimos carne de pasto y apoyamos una ganadería regenerativa, contribuimos a que haya animales pastoreando, manteniendo el paisaje y reduciendo parte de la
Biography
Early years
Grávalos was born in Calahorra, La Rioja, in 1989, and grew up cooking with her grandmother Ana Mari. She studied culinary arts in Benasque, Huesca, following her older brother into the field, and says she wasn't especially passionate about cooking until partway through her training, when it won her over.
Career
She trained under chefs Martín Berasategui, Dani García, and Álvaro Salazar. In February 2020 she launched a gourmet burger delivery service in Calahorra that grew into the restaurant Mentica by Lu, then opened Mentica Gastronómico in Madrid in April 2021, where she won the Metrópoli Prize for Revelation Chef and earned a Sol Repsol; that restaurant closed after just over a year amid pandemic-driven pressures. A second Madrid project, Amicitia, didn't find a clear concept and also closed. She opened Desborre, her third Madrid restaurant in under four years, on Calle de la Unión on 15 February 2024: a restaurant three years in development that made TheFork's Top 100 for 2024.
Philosophy
Grávalos describes her cooking as a kitchen of memory built on an absolute commitment to the land, drawing on organic gardens, free-range livestock and sustainable fishing. The menu is structured across five pillars (Bar, Garden, Sea, Pasture and Dessert) under a zero-waste, regenerative-agriculture ethos built around small producers.
Restaurants
Lucía Grávalos in our guides
Editorial guides featuring Lucía Grávalos’s restaurants.
Accolades
- ·Sol Repsol, Mentica (2022)
- ·Metrópoli Prize, Revelation Chef, Mentica
- ·Golden Apron and Gastronomy Award, Centro Riojano de Madrid
- ·Projection Award, Gentleman magazine
- ·Named among the 25 Most Important Chefs in Spain, Vanitatis
- ·Sol Repsol, Desborre
Frequently asked
Does Lucía Grávalos have a Michelin star?
No. Her restaurant Desborre carries one Sol from Guía Repsol.
Where is Desborre located?
On Calle de la Unión, 8, in central Madrid, near Teatro Real. It opened on 15 February 2024.
What is Desborre's culinary concept?
A regenerative, zero-waste kitchen structured around five pillars (Bar, Garden, Sea, Pasture and Dessert) built on small ecological producers and seasonal ingredients.
What happened to Lucía Grávalos's restaurant Mentica?
Mentica Gastronómico, her first Madrid restaurant, won the Metrópoli Prize for Revelation Chef and a Sol Repsol after opening in April 2021, but closed after just over a year amid pandemic-driven pressures.
Is Desborre Lucía Grávalos's first Madrid restaurant?
No. It's her third Madrid project in under four years, after Mentica Gastronómico (2021-2022) and a second attempt, Amicitia, that didn't find a clear concept.