A Quickie With Massimo Bottura
The word's greatest Italian chef talks Nonna's leftovers and grey Ferraris
When he speaks, the room listens. As does your palate.
He is the visionary chef behind Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy, consistently ranked among the world’s greatest restaurants, and the rest of his restaurant portfolio holds an extraordinary 17 Michelin stars. This week, he’s reopening Torno Subito at The Moore building, bringing his world-renowned creations to Miami’s Design District.
Beyond the kitchen, he is a leading voice in global gastronomy, sustainability, and social impact, using food as a tool for cultural dialogue and change. Through his restaurants, creative collaborations, and the nonprofit Food for Soul, Bottura has redefined what it means to be a modern chef—one who blends tradition, art, ethics, and innovation on a global stage.
Beyond being a gifted chef, he’s humorous, focused and as thoughtful as he is fearless. Every dish is loaded with emotion, art, and purpose. And this past week, we sat down with him for a wide-ranging, candid champagne-infused conversation that was loaded with laughter and interruptions.
Name: Massimo Bottura
Position: Chef, Author and Founder, Osteria Francescana; Founder, Food for Soul.
Nickname: Chef. Sometimes Mamo or Mamma. Even my team calls me Maima.
Best childhood memory involving leftovers: My grandmother cleaning the table of breadcrumbs after lunch and dinner, collecting them all week in a large glass jar. On Sunday night, she would strain them, mix them with eggs, a little nutmeg, and Parmigiano to make a very quick dough — you couldn’t overmix it or it wouldn’t work. She pressed it through a potato ricer to make breadcrumb noodles and cooked them in chicken broth. It was called pasatelli in brodo, made from nothing, and it was my favorite meal. It’s also my daughter and Charlie’s favorite meal, Sunday night.
Favorite restaurant for leftovers: We don’t really take leftovers home. We are certified zero-waste. Any surplus goes back into the pantry for the apprentices. There’s an exercise called “Who Are You?,” where they express themselves through a staff meal where they come from, who they are, using what’s left. We have about 110 people working for 30 guests, 65 just in the kitchen, so you have to be intentional. If you want to be at the very top, this responsibility matters.
Last meal: Tortellini. Always tortellini. And I would want my mother to cook them.
What do you wear at home when you cook: Exactly what I wear outside, and Gucci! One day I had just finished a CNN interview in my jacket when someone asked me to cook lunch. We had almost nothing, just Parmigiano, overripe tomatoes, olive oil, and garlic. I made pasta where the Parmigiano melted into the tomato sauce, letting the pasta absorb everything slowly. I served lunch while still wearing my jacket. Everything is Gucci!
Music playing in the kitchen: Music is very important. The first hour of the day, with all these 20-year-old kids full of energy, I put on Mozart. You have to relax and think. The second hour, they choose. The third hour, we build a playlist together for the rest of the day. Jazz is my foundation, but the kitchen is a shared rhythm.
Favorite knives: Japanese chef knives. I work with Takamura, who was introduced to me through a friend. He makes all our knives, even special ones for guests to carve meat. He never did that for anyone else.
What would surprise people most about you: I’m crazy about art and fast cars. At home, I have a secret space with one key, where I keep my cars. I work on the engines myself, fixing things. I love it.
Favorite supercar: Ferrari GTO, Modena. Not the 250. Enzo Ferrari would say, “The cars that live with this company should be red, but my cars have to be gray, because I understand from the shadows and the movement if I did a good job.” So all my Ferraris are gray.
If you weren’t a chef: I would work in music, for sure. Not a lawyer. Definitely not. Maybe racing, but I wasn’t good enough.
Advice for aspiring chefs: Work hard. Grow slowly, like a tree. Travel with your eyes and ears open, but never forget who you are and where you come from. That is essential.
Favorite restaurants in the world: I love restaurants where my friends cook for me, where I feel at home. When I walk into a kitchen and the chef cooks just for me, that’s the experience. Naming one is impossible.
Favorite city for food: Modena, always. But also Tokyo and San Sebastián.