You could say that even though I as surrounded by great works of art at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam I was distracted. You see, while we had planned on visiting Florence, I had really wanted to check out Emilia-Romagna. And so we made plans; but one of the key elements to this was trying to get reservations to the restaurant proclaimed to be "the Best Restaurant in the World", Osteria Francescana, which in fact has now won that title more than once. So there I was, on my smartphone, surrounded by the works of Van Gogh, on the first day on the month at 10am trying to get reservations. I managed to get us dinner reservations; not on the exact day I desired, but a day later. It kind of messed up my planning a bit, which turned out to be a blessing since I tweaked my plans to include Ferrara for a night which we really enjoyed.
And so, after having already had an enjoyable time in Modena, we headed off to dinner at Osteria Francescana.
Things start off when you walk up to the colorful, but discreet doorway to the restaurant….and ring the doorbell?
And are greeted by….a Security Guard? Actually a fake security guard, a life-sized, and quite real looking statue.
Let me just say; the service was flawless, just the right balance of professional, yet amiable, there's nothing stuffy about the place. Dishes were brought out perfectly timed, yet you felt relaxed. The wine pairing we had with our tasting menu was excellent according to the Missus; yet only one of them was from Italy.
There's also something I like about the austere, yet tasteful dining room; well spaced, lighting sets a good mood. Yes, you can tell, Osteria Francescana has three Michelin Stars.
The bread was interesting as it had a really nice texture, but was quite plain in flavor.
Ah, this was really traditional bread, no salt added, which went nicely with the olive oil.
Soon after; the dishes started arriving.
Starting with the Aula in carpione, "re-imagined fish and chips" (above). A crisp enrobes a small fish topped with a fish flavored ice cream. Nice umami tones; for some reason this really reminded me of the flavor of various Japanese snacks…..so perhaps that's why we weren't really blown away by the flavors.
Next up were the Cuttlefish and Caper puff topped with a very tasty tomato powder.
The macarons were really mild in flavor and seemed to be a case of perhaps getting a bit too out there. The parmesan crisp added a much needed milky-saltiness to things.
Talking about reminding me of Japanese drinking snacks; the "Sardine that is not a Sardine", eel cream inside a fish skin bread, really tasted like Japanese fried fish skin snacks.
Which kind of made us crack up.
The "Tribute to Normandy" was an interesting play on a place and a theme. There's an interesting, yet clean and refreshing flavor to this "oyster" which is topped with a nice apple granita. The texture is interesting as well. According to the story, Massimo Bottura first had an oyster when he was a teenager in Normandy. Along with the oysters, he had lamb and cider. So this is a dish that celebrates that time; the granita is apple (cider), the foam, which was a bit too salty, is oyster water, and the oyster…is not an oyster, but lamb tartare.
Next up was an interesting dish….I mean literally, the plate looked charred as did the "paper" that topped the sole prepared three ways.
The edible "paper" was made out of dehydrated sea water, then scortched…it made for a dramatic affect and the fish was perfectly cooked, but the dish proved to be much too salty for us.
One of Massimo's signature dishes; "An Eel Swimming up the River Po".
I can sum up the flavor of the Eel in one word; "anago"….it tasted totally like anago. I did enjoy the polenta cream flavored with onion, but the apple jam really clashed with the sweetness of the eel.
"Green over Brown, over Black: camouflage rice". Basically three risottos in one, a porcini (brown), vegetable (green), and oyster (black).
We fond the risotto to be too hard for us and though on occasion you'd get a nice bite of all three working in harmony, it was just a bit too much going on.
"From Cervia to Modena – Leeks, Shallots, and Black Truffle".
Wonderful combination of pungent-sweet and earthy flavors. Great "nose" on this dish as well.
The "Crunchy Part of the Lasagne".
Think of it as a fried noodle cracker on top of Ragu Bolognese, which nice a velvety.
"Suckling Pig, Tender and Crunchy".
Like the sauce stenciled piggies? The pork was fabulous; skin perfect, meat tender, nicely seasoned. The sauces ruined the wonderful pure taste of the swine. Bad thing was; you get three pieces, so don't make too many mistakes with sauces!
About this time, the Chef came out to chat and take a zillion selfies with customers. He is quite energetic, friendly, and really knows how to work the house.
Much like our experience at Azurmendi, we were kind of at a loss when the chef came to our table…….so we chatted about, well, what else…food! I mentioned how amazed we were at the Emilia-Romagna's bounty, it was more then we expected. When Massimo asked me what I was most impressed with….I'm sure he expected something like Balsamico, Prosciutto, or Parmesano-Reggiano. So when I said that culatello had been a revelation to me; he smiled widely, patted me on the shoulder, and said something to one of the Servers. He walked into the kitchen and brought this out to the table himself.
"It is our own Culatello…aged 46 months" he said. He smiled tapped me on the shoulder and said, "enjoy"…… Man, it looked really lean, but it had such a deep, cheesy-porky flavor, and just melted in my mouth that I almost uttered a profanity. So, I now have a story…… the cranky old man can now say, "did you hear the one about when Massimo Bottura served me salumi?"
I have an even better one. "Did I tell you about the time we spent a grand for dinner and the best bite I had was a salad?" Yes indeedy. This is called the "Caesar Salad in Bloom". It is amazing layer of various crunchy textures, flavored powders, various herbs and edible flowers, mounted on a leaf of lettuce.
It is to be eaten in two wonderful bites….I have a thing about textures; this was a symphony of varying degrees of crunchiness, along with bitter-sweet-sour-pungent…. We were amazed at the complex mélange of tastes on a singe leaf of lettuce. By far our favorite item of the evening. (of course for me it was the culatello….but that wasn't on the menu).
Did I mention that Osteria Francescana serves "popcorn" for dessert?
And of course more dessert for the Missus.
So, was it worth almost a thousand bucks for dinner? I often say that at this level it can sometimes be more about the experience. The presentation are like works of art; there is playfulness, transformation, and creativity. Whether that makes for an amazing meal is truly a personal opinion. The service was among the best we've had. The personal touch was amazing. So, while I don't think we'd do this again; I'm glad we did.
Do you really need the address of Osteria Francescana? Ok, here it is….. And no; I haven't seen "A Chef's Table"….
Osteria Francescana
Via Stella 22
41121, Modena, Italy
And yes; Modena is stunning at night……
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