Osteria Francescana by Massimo Bottura, Modena, Italy
Osteria Francescana is Italy’s most celebrated restaurant. At Osteria Francescana, chef Massimo Bottura takes inspiration from contemporary art to create highly innovative dishes that play with Italian culinary traditions. Share
Massimo was born and raised in Modena in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy. He developed an interest in cooking from a young age after watching his mother, grandmother and aunt in the kitchen preparing family meals.
In 1986 he was studying law when he heard that a roadside trattoria was for sale on the outskirts of Modena. He put his studies on hold, bought and renovated the building, and opened Trattoria del Campazzo, his first restaurant, a week later. Bottura then apprenticed himself to chef Georges Coigny to build his culinary foundation, a combination of regional Italian cooking and classical French training.
Bottura also worked with Alain Ducasse at Le Louis XV in Monte Carlo in 1994. Ducasse invited him to stage in his kitchen following a surprise visit to Trattoria del Campazzo.
On March 19, 1995 Bottura opened Osteria Francescana in the medieval city centre of Modena. His concept was to juxtapose culinary tradition and innovation with contemporary art and design.
Bottura then spent a summer at elBulli with Ferran Adrià, which encouraged him to continue pushing boundaries and re-writing rules with his cuisine.
In 2012, shortly after Osteria Francescana was awarded its third Michelin star, the restaurant closed for the summer for a period of refurbishment and opened with an updated insight into Bottura’s two biggest passions – contemporary art and avant garde cuisine.
Bottura and Osteria Francescana were featured in episode one of the first season of Netflix’s Chef’s Table series in 2015, and the second episode of the second season of Master of None.
Address: Osteria Francescana, Via Stella, 22, 41121 Modena MO, Italy
