Massimo Bottura

Massimo Bottura (born 30 September 1962) is an Italian restaurateur and the chef patron of Osteria Francescana, a three-Michelin-star restaurant based in Modena, Italy.

It has been ranked No.1 on The World's 50 Best Restaurants list twice and is currently part of the Best of the Best list.

Massimo Bottura grew up in Modena, Italy.

He started loving cooking when he was little and would watch his mom, grandma, and aunt preparing food for their family.

After secondary school, he enrolled in law school at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, but in 1986 he interrupted his studies and chose to join the family business, where he initially worked as a wholesaler of petroleum products.

The same year he stopped working for his family and took over Trattoria del Campazzo, near Nonantola, where he deepened his knowledge of Emilian cuisine with the support of rezdora Lidia Cristoni.

He later deepened his knowledge of classical French cuisine thanks to lessons given by Georges Coigny, consolidating his culinary foundations on a combination of regional Italian cuisine and classical French training.

In 1993 he moved to New York and worked in an Italian café.

There he met Lara Gilmore, his future wife.

After nine months, he returned to Modena and in 1994 began an internship of several months with Alain Ducasse at his restaurant "Le Louis XV" in Monte Carlo.

In 1995 he returned to Modena and took over a traditional trattoria in the heart of the city, Osteria Francescana, which officially opened on 19 March of the same year.

On 19 March 1995, Bottura opened Osteria Francescana in the historic center of Modena.

Here the chef presents his cuisine which balances innovation and tradition, with dishes that explore the deep roots of Italian cuisine by referencing history, art, and philosophy.

In addition to the restaurant business, since 1995 Massimo Bottura has dedicated himself to the production of PGI Balsamic Vinegar from Modena and extra virgin olive oil with his Villa Manodori line of condiments, the result of his constant quest for the best quality ingredients.

In 2022 he received the Italy USA Foundation's America Award at the Chamber of Deputies.

In 2000 Catalan chef Ferran Adrià invited Bottura to the kitchen of his restaurant "El Bulli" in Spain, where the Modenese chef learned the basics of molecular cuisine.

In 2002 Bottura received his first Michelin star, followed by the second in 2006 and the third in 2012.

In 2011, also in Modena, he took over the restaurant "Franceschetta58."

While Osteria Francescana offers customers an iconoclastic take on Italian cuisine, Franceschetta58, Bottura's second restaurant, is a contemporary bistro serving local ingredients in a convivial atmosphere.

Today, Osteria Francescana is a three Michelin-starred restaurant held since 2012, and ranked first on The World's 50 Best Restaurants list twice, in 2016 and 2018.

In 2013, he participated in the Year of Italian Culture in the United States and was the main character in an episode of the fifth season of the program The Witness hosted by Pif.

He is one of the ten directors of the Basque Culinary Center training center.

In 2015 he starred in the first episode of the Netflix documentary "Chef's Table".

In 2015, in conjunction with the EXPO Milan, Bottura carried out a project in collaboration with Caritas Ambrosiana: the Refettorio Ambrosiano; this project, aimed at welcoming people in need, with the help of more than fifty chefs allowed the recovery of about fifteen tons of food surplus resulting from the EXPO.

The Refettorio Ambrosiano project is active to this day and the model has been replicated in different parts of the world.

In Brazil, the project was inaugurated during the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in collaboration with chef David Hertz: the Refettorio Gastromotiva.

As a consequence of these projects, in 2016 Bottura and his wife founded Food for Soul, a nonprofit association that, through the daily work of Refettorios around the world, aims at contrasting food waste and social isolation through the power of beauty, the quality of ideas and the value of hospitality.

In 2018 he opened Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura in Florence, the cradle of the Renaissance, with the desire to honor the union of local traditions and multicultural encounters.

In May of the same year, he opened a new hospitality concept with his wife Lara Gilmore: Casa Maria Luigia, a country inn located on an 18th-century property in the Modenese countryside.

Since 2019, it has been part of the Best of the Best list, the category that includes all restaurants that ranked first in The World's 50 Best Restaurants and can no longer be voted in new editions of the list.

The restaurant has also received top ratings from L'Espresso, Gambero Rosso, and the Touring Club guides.

In fact, the restaurant was awarded its first Michelin Star in 2019.

In February 2019, Bottura worked in collaboration with W Hotels to open Torno Subito at W Dubai – The Palm on Palm Jumeirah.

In 2020, Osteria Francescana was awarded a Michelin Green Star in recognition of the chef's ongoing commitment against food waste and in favour of a more equitable and sustainable food system.

In early 2020, Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura also opened its doors to the public in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, and obtained its first Michel star the following year.

More recently Gucci Osteria opened in Tokyo, in August 2021, and in Seoul, in February 2022, with great success as well.

In November 2022, Gucci Osteria Tokyo was also awarded its first Michelin Star.

In June 2020, along with other chefs, architects, Nobel laureates in economics, and leaders of international organizations, he signed the call for a purple economy ("For a cultural renaissance of the economy") published in Corriere della Sera, El País and Le Monde.

In September of the same year, Massimo Bottura was appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), on the occasion of the inauguration of the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste.

In June 2021, Massimo Bottura reopened the Cavallino restaurant in collaboration with Ferrari and architect and designer India Mahdavi, with the desire to give new light to this iconic place that represents the history of Ferrari and the culinary traditions of Emilia Romagna.