Osteria Francescana had been open for five years.
We had invested in silverware, a wine cellar, kitchen equipment—and our ideas.
Nonetheless, acknowledgments seemed ever more far away.

We pushed against tradition with novel and provocative techniques, until one day, during a staff meal, I realized that my kitchen was hungry for a comforting dish of pasta and beans, just like the one my nonna Ancella prepared when I was young.

That was the humble beginning of a noble recipe.
That ordinary meal showed me the extraordinary potential of familiar flavours and the power of emotional bites.

WHO ARE YOU?

A Compression of Pasta and Beans

Separated into layers of texture and meaning and served in a shot glass, this is no ordinary bowl of pasta and beans.

Three bites capture and compress my gastronomic history: at the base a crème royale of foie gras honors my culinary experience in France with Alain Ducasse; and on the top an air of rosemary pays tribute to my time with Ferran Adrià in Spain.

But wait, where is nonna Ancella?

Trattoria del Campazzo 1985: Massimo Bottura, mamma Luisa, Lidia Cristoni and Cecilia Obang

Exactly where we need her to be.
She holds the emotional center with layers of tradition: sautéed radicchio rosso and pancetta from the Venetian version of pasta and beans, creamy Emilian bean purée and, replacing the pasta, thinly sliced Parmigiano Reggiano crust.

With this dish, I realized that what really mattered was a deep emotional connection to the kitchen. Technique allows us to transform and empower ingredients but in order to discover the extraordinary in the ordinary, we need to venture below the stainless steel, into a deeper level of honesty.

Refettorio Felix 2017: Alain Ducasse and Massimo Bottura

Osteria Francescana was awarded its first Michelin star that year – November 2001.

To celebrate we made a t-shirt that read:
Where does this pasta and beans think it’s going?

The rest is history.

Next time you eat a bowl of pasta and beans, ask yourself;
Who are you?

NEVER STOP QUESTIONING

Refettorio Ambrosiano 2015: Ferran Adrià and Massimo