Elite Traveler May-June 2017

77 elite traveler MAY/JUNE 2017

What experience can people expect to have when they dine at Osteria Francescana? We do our best to bring our guests into our world with the narratives that accompany our dishes and impeccable service. Our restaurant is intimate and at each service there is only one seating, so I think we are able to create a very direct relationship with our guests. We hope to leave with them a lasting memory of the dishes, the stories behind them and the flavors, which can be familiar and new at the same time. Most importantly we hope that the journey — and many people travel hundreds of miles to sit at a table — is well worth the effort. What do you still want to achieve in your career? We are having a kind of Italian gastronomic renaissance right now. Italian food has never been better, not only in Italy but around the world. I hope our success at Osteria Francescana is a lighthouse for other Italian chefs to follow, because if we can do it, they can too. We have always been a small restaurant with big dreams, and that is the way we see our future. This means staying humble and not losing sight of the human side of the restaurant, which is the team. Without everyone’s contribution, we would not be where we are today. Separately, there is still so much work to be done socially, and I believe, as a contemporary chef, I have a role to play in society. A recipe is as much an act of solidarity as it is a trace of the chef’s mind and identity. We are about to publish a book of recipes from our experience of cooking at Refettorio Ambrosiano in Milan with over 60 chefs from around the world. We turned an abandoned theater into an inspirational model for soup kitchens, providing food for kids and the homeless. The recipes reveal another side to the chefs, and their deep commitment to making better food for more people a reality. Founded by [wife] Lara and myself one year ago, Food for Soul is growing rapidly and we will be opening a Refettorio in London in June, where we’ll have more than 40 British chefs cooking with us. It is stimulating to put on another kind of chef’s hat to make visible the invisible, put ethics next to aesthetics and improve the quality of food for those who need it most. By Lauren Jade Hill Follow the story of Massimo Bottura and Refettorio Ambrosiano in the documentary Theatre of Life .

Left to right: Massimo Bottura with sous chefs Davide di Fabio and Takahiko Kondo; Massimo Bottura; Osteria Francescana

Photos PAOLO TERZI Fotografo