Osteria Francescana

by starchaholic

 

In Modena, a small, beautiful city known for the production of balsamic vinegar; there is a door, a doorbell, and small sign that you could easily walk by without giving it a second glance. Behind this door lies the best restaurant in all of Italy. Every Italian chef worth their weight in parmigiano-reggiano knows and reveres the name Osteria Francescana and the mastermind chef Massimo Bottura.

Fortunate enough to get a last minute reservation because of a cancellation, I was able to eat there. Of course I was beyond nervous but equally as excited, it is the 5^th best restaurant in the world. I wasn’t even sure if I would be allowed inside. Don’t I have to be part of the Illuminati or the Mafia to eat here? Is there some sort of secret password? You are really just going to let me do this?

They actually let me stay, and it was turned out to be an amazing experience. It really put in perspective what I am trying to learn and how it ties into modern restaurants. It is a restaurant that does it perfectly, translates traditional regional Italian food into a modern but respectful form.

I told the manager that my friend and I are culinary students, and he said that he could make a custom tasting menu that combined the experimental dishes and the classic dishes of the restaurant so we could get the full viewpoint of the restaurant.

The first half of the meal was experimental dishes and the second half was the restaurants traditional dishes. Here is the 12 dishes of the tasting menu. I wrote the best description I can, but it is by memory, so I cannot remember every component.

Dish 1: Almond granita with dried fruit and macaroons filled with anchovy.Salty, cold, sweet, a complete mixture of sensations and flavors that repeats itself throughout the meal.

Dish 2: Cod (baccala?) with a tomato and caper pesto and tomato and green olive liquid. This had some serious traditional flavors to it, it was very simple but amazing.

Dish 3: “Burnt” Red Mullet stuffed with prawns and squid ink. This was awesome. The fish was so soft and tender, but the outside of it tasted charred, like chicken on a grill, really powerful dish.

Dish 4: Risotto with chlorophyll and little balls of fish (can’t remember the type, wish I could elaborate better). Also amazing, the chlorophyll is the green part and it mixed with the seafood flavor, the whole thing reminded me of a lake.

Dish 5: Eel with saba grape must, polenta cream, apple jelly, and burnt onions. Great sweet, sour, and salty combination.

Dish 6: Oyster filled with lamb cream? topped with oyster liquid ice. I do not know how someone thinks of lamb and oysters going well together, but they do, and it really works.

Dish 7: Think green- mushrooms, truffles dressed with chlorophyll and edible flowers. Great earthy flavors

Dish 8: Parmigiano-Reggiano 5 ways with different temperatures and textures. This started the classic part of the menu, probably the most famous dish of the restaurant. The Parmigiano-reggiano cheeses used in this was aged from 24 months up to 50 months. It was a complete mixture of flavors, textures, and temperatures that was like a Parmigiano-Reggiano bomb exploding in your mouth. Soo good.

Dish 9:  A compression of pasta and beans. Ok, I did not love this. It is a play on pasta and beans in a shot glass with some radicchio in between. Tasted pretty bland in my opinion. I guess they all can’t be winners

Dish 10: Guinea fowl “roasted but not roasted”. I am not used to eating guinea fowl so this was a little different for me, but everything tasted great. Guinea fowl was prepared sous-vide 3 different ways and then was sprayed (from a can, no joke) with stock made from roasted bones.  The low tempurature cooking and the roasted flavor from the stock is where it gets its name. On the side (2nd picture) was some of the skin roasted with white and dark chocolate on top, which was a completely new flavor and combination to me, but went together so well.  Side note: Wine was flowing heavily at this point.

Dish 11: Crunchy Foie gras popsicle filled with balsamic. The texture was just like an ice cream bar from the ice cream truck, but it is goose liver and balsamic. Savory, salty, and sweet; really interesting.

Dish 12: Oops! a broken lemon tart with sabayon. Tasted amazing and the sabayon was out of this world, but I don’t really get the whole concept though, it seems gimmicky and out of place. The plate was really noisy when you dragged your spoon across it. Just give me the lemon tart unbroken!

After dinner coffee and chocolate

My only criticism was that the dining room was so quiet! The music was too soft and I felt I had to whisper. It was a little akward at first, but a few glasses of wine later I didn’t give it much thought.

Overall, amazing experience, worth the price, and something I will remember for a very long time. It really puts into perspective a lot of the hard work and dedication this profession demands. The bar has been set and there is another whole level of cooking that takes a tremendous amount of dedication, sacrifice, knowledge, and passion to reach.

But really, can I get some chlorophyll risotto to go? Portare a casa? Per favore? Hello?

The maestro and myself