Chase That Dish: Osteria Francescia

Rating: ★★★★★

Awards: 3 Michelin stars, The Worlds Best Restaurant 2016, The best Restaurant in Europe 2016

Cost: $$$$$

Date visited: July 2015

This magnificent 3 star Michelin restaurant which is the operated by Italian Maestro Massimo Bottura is simply amazing. It is not often you leave a restaurant having had some of the best dishes in your life. Usually the Michelin star restaurants set menu have a few stars in the lineup and a few good but not great dishes. However on this occasion it was 13 dishes that stood up like an all-star lineup. The innovation, delicacy, quality, and attention to detail is the main components here that set up the dish to taste so great. To add to that greatness, you have the artistic presentation of the dishes that creates a lovely visual expression of the dish itself and the surroundings. The Spin-painted veal is a good example of art meeting food as the dish is presented in the same design as the painting in the lobby by Damian Hirst.

The chef himself who published his first booked called “Never Trust a Skinny Italian Chef”, is a Chef who is very innovative and is looking to consistently raise the bar. He was available to come and meet and greet our table during and after the meal service. After the service included a double high five as we met in the hallway of the restaurant headed in opposite directions, followed by a nice chat before we departed. He also gave us a small gift which was very nice.

Massimo greets all guests that come in for dinner before or during the meal service. This adds a real nice personal touch to meet the chef to make the whole experience even better. His cooking is innovative and I look forward to my next visit because this is simply not a one off visit place to tick of the list, this is more a evolution in cooking that needs to be experienced multiple times. Osteria Francescia is number two in the world and the flair & passion shown here will ensure they fight for that number one spot.

The dining Experience:

There are two dining areas, our section that the staff led us to consist of 5 tables. We were in total 13 guests in the room. Luckily the table of four next me had some funny British guests who were ok with cross table communication and jokes, thus helping create a more festive and comical dinner experience. Often the Michelin star restaurants can get very serious where you sit and dine, enjoy the wine, and be on your best behavior. By the 5th or 6th dish accompanied with your 5th/6th glass of wine, then you try to make sense of what the waiter just described the dish as or simply smile with that look on your face saying: “I have no idea what you just described to me but I am sure it will taste good and my taste buds will figure this out.”

Once we were seated we were presented with 3 options for meals: The Al La carte menu, “The tradition in Evolution menu” (9 courses), and the “Sensations Menu” (12 courses).

We decided to go with the Sensations menu to get that mystery element to the evening’s courses. We added the “Opps I dropped the lemon tart” to it as the 13th dish, as this signature dish was not to be missed. The manager was happy to advise us what to expect with the evenings Sensations menu and what followed was a fantastic 2 and half hour dining experience. Out of all 13 dishes tasted, I can only fault the "Pizza Twist with Risotto rice", which was rather boring and did not belong in that line up. The desserts, along with the Parmesan dish, salad, fish soup, Mediterraneo, and the duck dish were the big stars on the night.

Ever since the Netflix debut of "Chef's table" featuring this restaurant, getting a table has become harder but be persistent as it is an amazing experience. I look forward to my 2nd visit here in 2016.