One of my most favorite movies about food, has to be ratatouille, I know it sounds childish, however let me begin this article with a quote from that kid’s animated movie, by the food critic Anton Ego, “Not anyone can become a great cook, but a great cook can come from anywhere”, so with that in mind, let’s talk about Massimo Bottura, an amazing Italian chef, gastronome and entrepreneur, as well as the owner and head chef at a three star michelin restaurant, Osteria Francescana, which has held a top spot in World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.

Massimo Bottura was born in Modena, and while growing up he learnt a lot from his mom and grandmother, who cooked for the family and taught him all about the Emilian Cuisine, but he later learnt the french cuisine from George Coigny.

After that he went through intense training before he returned to Modena and took over Osteria Francescana, which had a grand opening on 19th March, 1995. Massimo Bottura secured his first Michlin star in 2002, second one in 2006 and the third one in 2012 as well as a new Michlin green star for their commitment towards food waste and sustainable food system.

They were even reviewed and rated by L’Espresso, Gambero Rosso and the Touring club guide who gave them top marks.

So let me give you a grand private tour of what goes on inside Massimo Bottura’s fine establishment. The restaurant refers to itself as a laboratory of ideas, where they look back and criticize the past rather than being nostalgic.

Terming it as ‘Tradition In Evolution’, as in bringing the best of the past to the future. Massimo Bottura has designed it to be a minimalist space, chic and painted ferrari green, with sparsely distributed contemporary art which he describes as windows showing a landscape of ideas that open up a whole new world of possibilities, other than that, the atmosphere is even better, because of Frank Sinatra music and a self- portrait of Joseph Beuys with a inscription that says “We are the Revolution”.

Well, now that the place itself sounds so dreamy, who wouldn’t want to dine here, but hold on just a minute, I’ve barely scratched the surface—and the most thrilling part? In celebration of its 30th anniversary, the restaurant is launching a bold new menu, intricately woven around this year’s theme. Intriguing doesn’t even begin to cover it.

To celebrate its 30th anniversary, Osteria Francescana has introduced a new menu centered around the theme “Miseria e Nobiltà”, or “Misery and Nobility.” At first, the theme may seem contradictory—even unappealing—but it carries deep significance.

Italian cuisine, as Bottura explains, was never built on luxury ingredients. Its richness lies in resourcefulness, storytelling, and memory. His goal? To spotlight the origins of Italian food and its ability to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.
“Every dish is a bridge,” he says, “between the humble past and the grand future. This theme’s deep meaning comes from the fact that these two elements have shaped the origins of Italian cuisine for generations.”

In a recent interview with The Roman Times, Chef Massimo Bottura invites food lovers to discover his celebrated creations—including the Five Ages of Parmigiano Reggiano, Oops! I dropped the Lemon Tart, psychedelic-painted veal, and the famed crunchy part of the lasagna—at Casa Maria Luigia, a refined bed and breakfast he co-manages with his wife, Lara Gilmore.

As his second most cherished endeavor after Osteria Francescana, many of the signature dishes served there are rooted in the culinary legacy of his world-renowned restaurant.

Every year, the restaurant gets a huge amount of crowd, a lot of the visitors are editors, journalists, writers, hoping to write an article on the restaurant bringing the flavors of Italy to the next level. Katherine LaGrave wrote in Conde Nast Traveler that she loves the restaurant’s “lack of pretense”, and its classical nature was a pleasant surprise despite the media attention. Richard Vines, writing in Bloomberg Businessweek, says that “lunch was three hours of pleasure” at Chef Massimo Bottura’s Osteria Francescana.

So in short, Osteria Francescana explores Italian cuisine, history, and culture, adding its own contemporary twist, bringing the humble origins of simple ingredients to a rich and grand future of Italian cuisine. Massimo Bottura, in an interview with The Roman Times, says that there are two things that people travel for: one is art, and the other is food.

He says that when in Modena, food comes before art, because here food is art. Modena and Italy’s culture are beautiful, ranging from the Amalfi Coast to the Dolomites, and it’s home to Ferrari, Ducati, and Aserati. Due to Massimo Bottura’s Osteria Francescana, Modena has officially opened up to a lot more tourists, inspiring people to understand fine dining in a new way.

I believe everyone should at least once in their life try fine dining, but dining at Osteria Francescana is something else entirely, it is an honour, a feeling, and more than that, it’s really a journey, created by Massimo Bottura himself as a celebration of simplicity, imagination, and Italian soul.