Massimo Bottura's avant-garde cuisine has won him numerous awards, including two Michelin stars for his restaurant in Modena, Osteria Francescana. He has worked with, and been inspired by, leading chefs such as Alain Ducasse and Ferran Adria. His dishes are rooted in tradition yet his treatment and presentation of dishes is anything but, with his kitchen often described as a lab. Today, he is considered a key figure among a new generation of Italian chefs. 

Yet it was not always this way. When he first burst onto the dining scene Bottura's cuisine met with criticism and shock from both other chefs and experienced food writers. I met up with this interesting, delightful and passionate chef when he was in town for a one-night only dinner at Grissini to learn more.

Being a chef wasn't your first career choice, what was the catalyst that led to the change in direction?

I have three passions in life: food, art and music. I had explored my passion for music through study. I was helping with my family business and one day I realised that I was not happy and spoke to my father about it. One week later I bought a small trattoria just outside Modena. My mother supported my decision, but my father didn't speak to me for two years!

I really believe it is important to live your life as a dream, live life believing that what you dream you can create. Maybe I am a little crazy in my thinking, but I believe we can do everything we dream.

The trattoria experience gave me a grounding in traditional Italian cuisine and I met the first chef who touched my soul. Learning the traditional way allowed me to transform tradition, which is one of the signatures of my cuisine.

In the early years of your current restaurant you met with a lot of resistance and criticism until you received your first Michelin star, tell me a little about this time.

I opened in the late 90's and it was very difficult for me, most people didn't get it, they didn't understand my food. Some did, I had praise from New York Times, and Gourmet magazine, but established critics, especially those in Italy, were against what I was doing.

It became so hard I was very close to closing. I had had an offer from London and wanted to accept, but my wife didn't want to give up on Modena, even though she is not from Italy. Then within the same year (2001) a leading food critic in Italy visited the restaurant and he wrote a highly favourable feature, this was followed by the Gamberro Rosso award in October, and then a Michelin star in the 2002 guide. This was followed by exposure on national television. 

Now we are in a different time, it is now much easier as a chef to take traditional cuisine and approach it with radical ideas and concepts.

How would you describe your cuisine?

For me cuisine is an expression of culture, it is something that goes deep on an emotional level. It is close to art as an expression. My food is influenced by my passions, particularly art. My wife, who is an art curator, has also been a big influence, and friendships with artists have also stimulated me a lot.

My cuisine, my food, is ironic, it is provocative, but it is still true to the Italian culture. It is however, not food just to eat.

Regarding your last comment, I read an interview with you and you were quoted as saying, "I don't feed hungry stomachs, I feed hungry minds", did you say that?

Yes, it is true, I did say that. At the same time though, I believe that when you eat the food it is good or not good. Ultimately for me, the best foodies or customers are those that reflect and think about what it is that I am doing, they try to understand my food and my different approach.

It is like art, you either like an art piece or you don't. And many artists were not praised or understood during their lifetime. There was a dish I did about ten years ago, that was completely misunderstood and no-one wanted to know about it, now there is a lot of interest and people want to know more about the dish and how I did it.

Author's note: Details of the dish he refers to are below. The evening after the interview I was lucky to have been invited to try his seven-course menu and I feel that the more apt quote would have been, "I feed hungry stomachs and hungry minds"; my mind was stimulated and my stomach was happy. 

Another of your quotes is that your cuisine can be experienced from 10kms away, what do you mean by that?

The Emilia Romagna region of Italy, in which Modena is a part, has some of the best regional products of all of Italy, including the well-known Balsamic Vinegar and Parmesan Cheese to wonderful seafood from the Adriatic Coast, that is the basis for cuisine that can be experienced from 10kms away. It is experienced by the palate last.

The inspiration for believing this comes from the true story of a well-known Italian artist who was obsessed with painting noses. An important collector wanted his portrait painted by this artist, the artist reluctantly agreed. He made the collector sit, in pose, for three hours. The artist declared that he was finished and the collector got up and looked at the canvas. The only thing on the canvas was a single dot of paint...this was the collector's portrait viewed from 10kms away!

What about the science of food and the deconstruction, reconstruction approach excites you most?

It is not that it excites me, it's that it provides little keys or clues, it is about emotion. When I think about food just for my stomach I think about traditional Italian pasta dishes, which go back the length of Italian cuisine, and on a personal level eating pasta, traditional style, evokes memories of my life. I try to capture the emotion I feel from my past that is evoked by eating pasta, yet I use the best products, the best ingredients combined with the best techniques that will make the ingredients shine. For example I take the classic dish found in every home, Pasta Fugioli, and I reinterpret it as gourmet cuisine. 

I am getting Italians to question their traditional cuisine, in the sense I am asking through my interpretation, is the traditional way really respecting the ingredients and is the traditional way the best way to approach and cook the dish? 

It seems as if you are almost advocating a move away from the traditional to a more 'now' style of Italian cuisine.

I believe that it is possible to save our (Italian) cuisine, our food, our produce, so as to truly express the produce on a plate. For example instead of boiling meat, we can now use the sous vide technique. We can make a dish that is more temporal, that for me reflects cubism and deconstruction, but it is still Italian cuisine.

When experimenting with ideas, ingredients and new dishes is there a point where you say, "No, this is not working" and let the idea go? 

At some point I do give up, but then I go back, and sometimes the dish is just ahead of its time. For example in 2000 I was invited by Grand Gourmet magazine to create a quick lunch dish for the office. I made a terrine of foie gras in the shape of an ice cream, it was injected with aged balsamic and coated with almond and hazelnut and was to be eaten like an ice cream. For me it represented different regions and it was a playful approach to foie gras, giving the person eating it the sense of fun you have when you are a child and are eating an ice cream. But nobody got it, yet now many people are copying it.

It does feel good in a way to have recognition of my work, that makes me feel proud. Like when people are looking at a painting and they know that it is a Matisse, my distinct style allows people to go that is Bottura. And it is nice that young chefs respect me and want to be like me. 

But ultimately for anyone who creates it is important not to get lost in daily routines as this is not a creative space. To be creative live every moment, there is always new inspirations.

What does your mother think of your take on Italian cuisine? 

She likes it but we do argue over classic dishes, such as tortellini. She believes her version is better than mine, and I think mine has a better filling and is done in a way that has not been seen before.

What is your favourite comfort food?

Individual ingredients that are sent to me from artisanal suppliers or from other chefs. I love tasting all the wonderful produce. I am passionate about sourcing the best ingredients from the different regions of Italy, and it gives me joy to try them on their own, as they are.

All images copyright, used with permission of Massimo Bottura.