Modena-Regional Update 2022: The Culinary Experience of a Lifetime

Mentioning the Food and Wine of Emilia-Romagna or the city of Modena without mentioning Massimo Bottura is like discussing the cuisine of Texas (my home state) without any reference to BBQ. Indeed, I included Osteria Francescana when I wrote my original Regional Features post for this region during 2018-2019. While the world was frozen in time and the scientists were scrambling for solutions to set us in motion again, I mused on my wonderful trips to this region (the cities of Bologna, Parma, Ferrara, Ravenna, and Modena too), but the hope of having the three Michelin star experience first hand seemed to be a rather distant pipe dream at the time.

The menu on offer when we ate at Osteria Francescana in the spring of 2022

It is rather appropriate that the menu we enjoyed at Osteria Francescana was titled “With a little help from my friends” as I could not have enjoyed this experience “ with[out] a little help from my friend” Molly, the creator of Luggage and Life. She secured the reservation for us 6 months out, and I am so grateful to her. Recently, I went on to the online booking system at Osteria Francescana, just out of curiosity, and a two top available table appeared in the forthcoming days. First Reaction: Shock. (In the words of Matteo Renzi.) Thus, I suppose one ‘could’ get lucky with a last minute cancellation, but the reservation process is very clearly explained on the restaurant’s FAQ Page. For example, the website explains: “New reservations are released every first working day of the month for six month later. (At the following question you can find the releasing calendar).”

A little art deco inspo, perhaps a little pop art with the bold colors, every piece of tableware was a work of art. The first course also met us with characteristic humor. The dish on the left is titled “I wanted to be fried” (Volevo essere fritto).

We booked in October 2021 and on April 2nd 2022, we sat for our lunch reservation which started at 12.30 and ended after 4 PM. There is only one seating; our menu was 12 courses and wine pairings (should you choose; the pairings, of course, cost extra). The price of the experience is public on the website, and for some it might seem shocking and/or extravagant. For most, myself included, it was not an inconsequential splurge. It was an investment. I justified spending the money on this experience to myself in a number of ways, four dinners that cost about 100 euro each (wine included), eight dinners over the course of a year, two years, ten years that cost 50 euro each. Ultimately, unless money is no issue, the crux of the matter comes down to value. What kind of special experiences do you want to invest in/ spend on? Special concert tickets? A season pass to football games? (I again want to give credit to my friend Molly for this useful analogy.) An entertainment system in your house? A meal at Osteria Francescana is an entertainment experience and one that I wanted to invest in.

With the man himself

In fact, when Signor Bottura himself came to our table, we ended up having a conversation about the tasting menu we experienced as parallel to an opera. He broached this particularly apt metaphor as the world famous tenor Luciano Pavarotti was born (and died) in Modena, Italy. Bottura spoke to us about music with a connection to how the dishes should take diners on a journey over 12 courses. I admit, I was a bit ‘chef-struck’. He seemed so genuine, so unpretentious, almost formulating this genius theory, the narrative opera of his menu, on the spot. I have no delusions that we were the first to hear these sage musings, but he made me feel like the first. The visit to the table was a much appreciated touch. There are only 12 tables in Osteria Francescana, but still…

Here is dish number 3 on the menu: Insalata di Spaghetti al Caviale (which might translate to a salad of spaghetti with caviar).

The focus on art, on the walls, on the plate, the table, the design of cutlery, every glass, plate in harmony. It is a symphony for the senses. In addition to being a culinary artist, Bottura himself is a visual art collector. (Read more about an auction he curated with Sotheby’s here.) The visual attention to every aesthetic detail on every plate is only a supplement to the primary sensory experience, of course, the gustatory. Still, sight and taste work in harmony with smell, touch and sound, (ironically, with this extended metaphor), in order to create this symphony of the senses.

It is natural to wonder, can the experience live up to the ‘hype’? How can anything be that good? That is to merit not one, but three, Michelin stars. Accolades of ‘best restaurant in the world’ hang heavy in the air and the ‘cost’ of the experience looms as no insignificant reality. The beautifully ironic thing about this restaurant, I would say, however, is that the atmosphere is ‘light’. All of the stops that you would expect at a Michelin star restaurant are pulled; however, there is a levity to the approach. It would be rather ironic if the restaurant with a Chef celebrated for breaking convention, had a stuffy condescending atmosphere in his restaurant. He doesn’t.This is hinted at, of course, in some of the, now famous, titles of his dishes. ‘Oops I dropped the lemon tart’ showcases the visual irony exploding before you. What might have been a disaster in a Michelin star kitchen, a firing on the spot, Bottura embraced as a happy accident and turned it into a dish.

Don’t say you don’t like truffle until trying this: La Cipolla Fondente

Through “Five Ages of Parmigiano Reggiano”, “Memory of a Mortadella Sandwich” and the early “Tortellini Walking on Broth” Bottura nods to the classic ingredients of his home town, Modena, but addresses them with humor while at the same time wrapping in his own personal narrative. Read more in this article written for Conde Nast. Of course, I was slightly disappointed I did not get to try the greatest hits on our menu in the spring of 2022.

I will not detail every course, every taste in this reflection. As you might expect, the menu changes. The chances that you would eat what I ate are slim, so I didn’t want to make reviewing each dish the focus of this article. I aimed to give an impression of my experience. I will say I experienced a gastronomic journey over four hours in which time felt suspended. This is not to say I loved every dish. The beauty and subjectivity of taste prompted conversation with my table mates. My highlights from the menu pictured above were ‘La Cipolla Fondente’. (White truffle as I have never experienced it before in a sweet more than savory start to the tasting menu.)

The Carbonara cone on its own.

Another playful symphony of savory and sweet was the Zuppa Fredda di Carbonara. I am a creature of habit and my favorite pasta dish, from my favorite city of Rome is the Carbonara; thus, a sweetened twist on the ‘classic’ spoke to me. There was one divisive dish, the Anguilla (eel), that Bottura himself commented upon as a rather pièce de résistance of the menu, but it was not a highlight for me personally.

In reading other reflections and reviews of experiences on Via Stella, I found there were, of course, varied critiques. For instance, one blogger took issue with the front of house. Journalist Tanya Gold for The Guardian in her 2016 article about eating at Osteria Francescana quips “Now, in Modena, he [Bottura] comes out to say hello and poses for a photograph in which my companion and I look like fat, uneasy ghosts.” Sure, journalists need to find a slant and a critical angle can be interesting, the power of ‘negative capability’. Perhaps I was charmed by the charisma of Bottura himself. That personal touch, the pathos, the metaphor even further enhanced the food.

With my favorite dish, the carbonara cone (a bit of Roman ‘fusion’ in the famous modenese institution).

I will agree, however, with Gold’s point and add my vain criticism. Every picture taken while having the best eating experience of my life is off. The lighting is ‘bad’. It must be intentional. Are the rooms lit to capture the food, the world-class art on the walls, but not the face? Or is this lighting in some way to deter the ‘phone eats first’, that is, this culture of food photography, and capturing every dish instead of enjoying the moment only while it lasts. I am guilty of course, evidence at right.

Stepping out into the ‘real world’ streets of Modena again.

We emerged from Osteria Francescana to disorienting afternoon light, floating into the daylight center of Modena, googling opera terms. I was racking my brain to remember the chef’s words, phrases, how the metaphor of opera and food was extended in our brief but momentous table side conversation. Frustratingly, all the details escape me, yet there is a magical realism quality to an experience like this. I couldn’t have recorded it all (even with my Iphone at the ready). There is an ephemeral quality to all lived experiences, of course, especially meaningful ones. Elements inevitably ‘perish’. My recollection is only a fragment. Did it happen? Did it happen in the way I remember it? …and although I titled this piece ‘of a lifetime’… can it happen again?