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Massimo Bottura

Massimo Bottura is the Modena chef behind Osteria Francescana, the family cooking videos Kitchen Quarantine, and Food for Soul, co-founded with Lara Gilmore to turn surplus food into shared meals.

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Massimo’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus their backstory and Starbook, where fans write.

Known for

Overview

Born
30 September 1962, Modena, Italy
Work
Chef, restaurateur, author and food-waste advocate
First restaurant
Trattoria del Campazzo, 1986
Home base
Osteria Francescana, Modena, opened in 1995
Breakout
Osteria Francescana’s first Michelin star in the 2002 guide; World’s Best Restaurant in 2016 and 2018
Online series
Kitchen Quarantine, family cooking broadcasts begun in 2020

Mini bio

How it started.

Bottura grew up in Modena watching his mother, grandmother and aunt prepare family meals. He left law school and opened Trattoria del Campazzo in 1986. Working with Lidia Cristoni and learning from Georges Coigny gave him a foundation in Emilian cooking and French technique; a later spell with Alain Ducasse in Monte Carlo widened that outlook.

Finding his voice.

He opened Osteria Francescana in Modena in 1995. Reworking familiar Italian dishes initially met resistance, and the restaurant nearly closed. He kept going: its first Michelin star arrived in the 2002 guide, and it topped The World’s 50 Best Restaurants in both 2016 and 2018. Dishes such as Oops! I Dropped the Lemon Tart and The Crunchy Part of the Lasagna turn memories into something you can eat.

Cooking beyond the restaurant.

The Refettorio Ambrosiano began during Milan’s Expo in 2015, turning surplus ingredients into meals in a welcoming space. Bottura and Lara Gilmore founded Food for Soul in 2016 to carry that approach further. His books share both restaurant ideas and ways to cook with overlooked ingredients; Chef’s Table introduced his work to Netflix viewers in 2015.

Inviting fans into the kitchen.

During the 2020 lockdown, Bottura and his family began Kitchen Quarantine on Instagram. The home broadcasts showed how to use leftovers and improvise meals together. It offered a different way to follow his cooking: through an ordinary family kitchen and whatever happened to be in the fridge.

Creditschronological, newest first

Screen and online

Restaurants and hospitality

Awards

Quotes

To feed the planet, first you have to fight the wasteMassimo Bottura, Bread Is Gold, quoted by Phaidon.

From the publisher’s introduction to the book, linked in the sources.

Trivia

  1. Osteria Francescana stands on Via Stella, or Star Street. Bottura says he ran outside and fell to his knees when its first Michelin star arrived.
  2. The Crunchy Part of the Lasagna draws on the childhood habit of stealing the crispest bit of a grandmother’s Sunday lasagna.
  3. His interest in cooking began by watching his mother, grandmother and aunt make family meals.
  4. Slow Food, Fast Cars brings together Casa Maria Luigia’s food, contemporary art and collection of Italian cars and motorcycles.

Find Massimo

Follow along for cooking, the Francescana family and meals that bring people together.

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