Both breakfast and dinner are at shared tables at the coach house opposite the main villa. Guests are encouraged to converse and interact with the chefs, getting up to watch dishes being prepared at the open kitchen; questions on technique and ingredients are welcomed. Dinner is rather like an evening of immersive theatre with Bottura and his team sharing anecdotes and memories with flair and informality to explain the very personal inspiration behind dishes that are culinary and artistic masterpieces. Many ingredients are home produced, including spelt, honey, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, as well as herbs, flowers, fruit and veg from the on-site garden.
The nine-course tasting menu is a collection of iconic dishes from the past 25 years of Bottura's triple Michelin-starred Osteria Francescana in central Modena, incorporating plenty of traditional flavours such as Parmigiano Reggiano (five different-aged versions prepared in five ways) from a rare local breed of cow; wine pairings include a joyful Lambrusco and several lesser-known varieties.
Even after such an experience, breakfast is in no way a let-down. The accent is strongly on local traditions (with a few twists) and many dishes are cooked in the wood-burning oven, including crispy cotechino sausage, sweet onion frittata, focaccia and spelt sourdough bread. Gnocco fritto (fried dough) is served with mortadella and there are single-portion erbazzone pastries filled with greens and cheese, as well as home-grown fruit and jams, yogurt and granola.
The restaurant isn't open for lunch but guests can help themselves to drinks and snacks from the kitchen (including Lambrusco) with spicy crackers and the day's fresh single-portion snacks that might include crunchy Jerusalem artichoke with apple, yogurt and hazelnut or ricotta with olive oil, lemon and lavender.
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