From acts of love in meal form to what's on his record player and childhood memories, dive into the musings of this legendary Italian chef.
Massimo Bottura has spent four decades turning Italian traditions into innovation, childhood memories into meaning and is arguably responsible for putting Modena on the culinary map. In conversation with 50 Best after winning the Woodford Reserve Icon Award, as part of The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025, he implores everyone to stay curious, discusses his dreams for a university of ideas and argues why the future of food must be rooted in empathy.
You often talk about poetry and food. What does it mean to tell a story through your dishes?
"Poetry is the most important thing a chef should carry with them when they walk into the kitchen. Poetry means depth, not decoration. It's the capacity to look at a leftover crust of bread and see potential. To hear the silence in a dining room and understand what's missing. It's what allows us to turn a recipe into a story, a gesture into emotion, a plate into a message.
Fóg dish at Al Gatto Verde, in the grounds of Casa Maria Luigia, which debuted at No.92 on the extended list of The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025 [Image credit: Stefania Gambella]
"Where do my stories begin? Sometimes with memory, like the crunch of the Sunday lasagne in my grandmother's kitchen. Sometimes with a place – the fog of Modena, or the salt air of Pantelleria. But often, they begin with a feeling. An urgency. A question. A desire to connect. Poetry in the kitchen is not about being lyrical, it's about being honest. Honest with the ingredients, honest with your past and honest with the people you are cooking for."
Food for Soul has been a deeply impactful initiative. What has surprised you the most about trying to make social change through food and do you believe chefs today have a responsibility that goes beyond food?
"What surprised me the most? That beauty can truly restore dignity. When we opened the first Refettorio, I thought we were just feeding people, but what happened was so much deeper. We were creating spaces where people felt seen, not invisible. Where a meal wasn't just nourishment, but an act of love. I saw how a table set with care, a plate composed with intention, could rebuild someone's sense of worth. That surprised me and moved me more than I can explain.
Massimo Bottura and Jessica Rosval, head chef at Casa Maria Luigia, on the pass [Image credit: Marco Poderi]
"On the other side, I was surprised by how resistant some systems can be and how difficult it is to fight waste, bureaucracy and indifference. But when you believe in something, you keep showing up with creativity, culture and community.
"Yes, chefs today have a responsibility that goes beyond food. We are not just cooks, we are custodians of memory, ambassadors of agriculture, mentors, educators and activists. Our kitchens can be classrooms. Our restaurants can be platforms. And our recipes can be acts of resistance against waste, inequality and exclusion. The future of food is not just about technique, it's about empathy.
You've nurtured many young chefs. What's the one lesson you hope every mentee carries forward?
"Never stop being curious.
The team at Osteria Francescana [Image credit: Paolo Terzi]
"That's the lesson I hope stays with them: not a recipe, not a technique, but a state of mind. Curiosity is what keeps your hands humble and your heart open. It's what makes you question a tradition, not to break it, but to understand it more deeply. It's what lets you see a mistake not as failure, but as a door to something new. I always tell them: cook with your head, your hands and your heart. All three. But if you lose curiosity, the rest becomes routine.
"And maybe one more thing: remember where you come from. Whether it's a village, a family, a smell from childhood... carry that with you. Because when you know who you are, you don't get lost in the noise. You cook with purpose."
If someone could only understand you through one dish, which would it be?
"Maybe it would be The Crunchy Part of the Lasagna, because it holds everything: memory, technique, irony and love. It's a dish born not from luxury, but from listening, from remembering that, as kids, we all fought for that golden, crisp corner of the lasagne tray. That edge was home and happiness. With that dish, I wasn't just reimagining a classic, I was reimagining nostalgia. I was saying, 'your memories matter. Your childhood matters. Even the broken, burned bits have value. Especially those.'
Massimo Bottura's dish, The Crunchy Part of the Lasagna [Image credit: Marco Poderi]
"There's a quote from Picasso I always come back to: "At 13, I could draw like Raphael, but it took me a lifetime to learn how to draw like a child." When you are a child, your heart is open. You don't judge, you feel. That's what I try to protect in my cooking, that sense of wonder, of emotion, of playfulness and truth.
"So yes, if you really want to know me, start from the edge of the lasagne tray."
What's a dream project you haven't pursued yet but would love to bring to life?
"A university of ideas. A place where chefs, artists, farmers, architects, designers and philosophers come together to rethink the future of food – not just how we cook, but why we cook. A school without borders, where tradition meets innovation, where sustainability is not a chapter but the foundation. A campus where creativity is fed by culture and where young people learn that cooking is not just a craft, but a language, a way to express values, build community and change the world.
The front view of Casa Maria Luigia [Image credit: Marco Poderi]
"I imagine gardens, kitchens, classrooms, music. A space where knowledge flows like a river from the soil to the soul. Where you can learn how to make tortellini by hand in the morning and discuss the ethics of hospitality in the afternoon.
"We've planted the seeds with projects like Food for Soul, Tortellante and Roots. But one day, I'd love to bring it all together and create a home for the next generation. Not just chefs, but also citizens of taste, beauty and responsibility."
What's on repeat on your record player right now?
"Kind of Blue. Miles Davis teaches you how to listen. How to be patient. How to trust silence as much as sound. That album is like a slow-cooked broth – essential, deep and full of space to dream.
"But then there's Billie Holiday, with all her fragile strength. Bob Dylan, the poet of resistance. They remind me that voice matters and that words can change the world, especially when they come from the gut.
The living room space at Casa Maria Luigia [Image credit: Scatà]
"And then, depending on the day, I might put on Chiara Civello. Her voice feels like red wine in winter, or let the raw Americana of Old Crow Medicine Show carry me somewhere dusty and real.
"Music, like food, is memory and rebellion. It moves you forwards while keeping you rooted. That's what I look for in a plate, in a melody and in life."
How does it feel to have won the Icon Award, as part of The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025?
"It's emotional, not for the title, but for what it represents. This award isn't just about me. It's about 40 years of dreaming, doubting, rebuilding and reinventing. It's about the people who walked with me: my team, my family, my mentors, my community. It's about every plate that carried a story, every mistake that became a lesson, every 'no' that pushed us closer to a better 'yes'.
"Being called an icon feels strange. I'd rather be remembered as someone who cared and believed in the power of beauty. Someone who fought waste with creativity, isolation with hospitality, indifference with imagination. If this recognition means that our way of thinking and cooking can inspire others to do the same, then it's the most meaningful thing of all.
Lara Gilmore and Massimo Bottura, winners of the Woodford Reserve Icon Award 2025 [Image credit: Lido Vannucchi]
"In the end, it's never just about food. It's about what food can do. A dish can carry memory. A table can create community. A chef can be a bridge, not just between flavours, but between people, ideas and generations.
"If there's a red thread running through everything I've done, through the crunch of the lasagne, the silence of a Refettorio, the jazz of Miles Davis, the voice of Bob Dylan or the ragazzi at Tortellante, it's this: never stop dreaming with your hands in the dough. Never stop believing that beauty has the power to change lives. And never forget that the most revolutionary ingredient in the kitchen is care.
"That's the legacy I hope to leave behind. Not a monument, but a movement. Not perfection, but possibility."
Read the interview with Lara Gilmore, business partner, wife and the restaurateur behind the Bottura brand.
Discover the full list of The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, and special awards winners.
Also, read more about the incredible restaurants in the Best of the Best group. Each has topped the annual poll of The World's 50 Best Restaurants over its history.
