High-end Dining in Italy, Frank Bruni article, NY TImes, Oct 2011: Combal.Zero, Piazza Duomo (Piemonte); Ora d'Aria (Florence); Innocenti Evasioni, Cracco, (Milan); Osteria Francescana (Modena)
I post this link sans comment except to note that Osteria Francescana is only briefly mentioned based on Bruni's earlier experience. No specific meal is reviewed here.
http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/10/02/...
-----
Osteria Francescana
Via Stella 22, Modena, Emilia-Romagna , IT
Piazza Duomo
vicolo dell'Arco 1, angolo piazza Risorgimento, Alba, Piedmont 12051, IT
Cracco
Via Victori Hugo,4, Milan, Lombardia 20123, IT
Innocenti Evasioni
via priv. della Bindellina, nr Via Luigi Veratti, Milan, Lombardia 20155, IT
Ora d'Aria
Via de' Georgofili,11, Florence, Toscana 50122, IT
-
Smilinglion
Oct 11, 2011 12:32 AM
We had dinner there last week and it was our second time there after our first trip almost exactly a year ago. It was a superlative experience, again. Chef Massimo Botturo has a gift of balancing innovation with traditional Italian cooking, and deftly avoids unnecessarily adding flashy touches at the expense of the fundamentals. The result was a 4 hour meal (we had the Sensations menu) filled with gems like the razor clams with the shells made from seaweed, the lamb tartare with oyster essense in oyster shell and the reconstructed osso bucco amongst the more traditional sea bass with razor clam and rabbit sauce and the lamb with mint. Despite his reputation for 'molecular gastronomy', I did not feel like his food was gimmicky in any way. Only the foie gras in miso (tastes clashed i thought) and the deconstructed sangria (I hate sangria) were less than perfect.
In addition, he was very personable, having come out several times to interact with his guests and explain his dishes. It's just my view but he must be regarded as one of the foremost Italian chefs now and I would (as I have done) travel specially to Modena just to eat there again.
-----
Osteria Francescana
Via Stella 22, Modena, Emilia-Romagna , IT -
Frank Bruni's 2006 review of Osteria Francescana is here:
http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.co...-----
Osteria Francescana
Via Stella 22, Modena, Emilia-Romagna , IT
