We went to Osteria Francescana in February 2015, it feels like a long time ago now but the memory of it is still large in my mind. We copied our friends’ trip – staying at the same hotel and eating there the night before the big event. In fairness they have very good taste, so it was a no brainer to just do the same as them. The hotel was in a small place called
Castelvetro di Modena a short drive out of town. Castelvetro has been around since the 1600s and has the sleepy, slightly smelly charm of old Italian villages. Magnificent old buildings that in other countries would be revered and protected, here they are revered and protected by being still in use and part of modern life. Our hotel was run by 2 brothers (I may be making this up but it’s how I remember it) and in the centre of the little town. It was February so everywhere was snowy and cold, not the dry fluffy snow that makes everything magical but the wet slushy grey type that makes everything a bit dank. We had a splendid five course meal at the hotel prepared by one of the brothers that was elegant and delicious. I would have been very content if that was the highlight of our trip. We drank way too much wine and then hit the local bar drinking Nocino; a walnut liqueur best left alone. The hotel did an ok breakfast but the best cappuccino I’ve ever had and is what I measure all coffee by now. A small cup of strong and slightly sweet milky coffee with velvety viscosity – perfection! And nothing like the buckets of weak milky bitter rubbish so often served in coffee shops.
We arrived at Osteria Francescana very excited and with expectations sky high. It has a very understated entrance on a side street in Modena but then all of Modena was quiet and understated on a cold February night. The restaurant itself was a maze of small dark rooms so the atmosphere was intimate and exclusive, each table in a pool of light - centre stage.
Every dish that we ate was a triumph of flavour, excellent cooking and an amazing use of culinary techniques that were used to enhance the meal and bring joy to the diners. It was delicious and fun, never taking itself too seriously (the venison arrived with Ooh Deer written on the plate in sauce). We had 20 courses for dinner, not including a birthday cake Pete had organised for me and the infamous Lemon Tart that Massimo Bottura insisted we should try, he chatted to each set of diners and stopped for photographs, charming everyone there and showing a genuine interest and appreciation that we had all chosen his restaurant. I have lots of favourite restaurants and eaten lots of amazing meals, but this is still number one, it lived up to every bit of hype and was worth every penny of its price.
On that trip we visited the Ferrari Museum, saw how balsamic vinegar is made, searched for parmesan and arsed around to our hearts content. On our last evening we asked the hotel for a restaurant recommendation locally, they sent us to another village that was no bigger than three houses at a crossroads. We entered the place and said we had a booking, we were shown through the restaurant to a back room with fluorescent lighting and curly lino, a plug-in radiator keeping the worst of the cold out. Under normal circumstances I think we would have left but we were in the middle of nowhere and no way back to the hotel until our cab later on. The owner came to take our order and we did what we always do – what is the best thing you do, what would you order? He replied ‘my mother is making ravioli in the back and to drink, we grow Lambrusco outside the window.’ That’s what we had, and it was fabulous. The restaurant filled up around us and became loud and friendly. The food and wine was delicious, when the bill came it was exactly one tenth the cost of the previous evening at Osteria Francescana. We loved both places and it just goes to prove that you can eat well and have fun without spending a fortune, but that’s fun too!
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