Brief Introduction
Massimo Bottura is a world-famous Italian chef and restaurateur who was born in Modena, Italy, in 1962. Since childhood, he was interested in the restaurant industry: he used to watch his family members cooking and dream to do the same thing in the future. He has been mainly raised by his grandmother and adored watching her, his aunt, and his mother preparing the various meals for family dinners. He had 4 brothers and Massimo was the youngest one; he started helping cooking when he was only 6 years old. Every morning he used to wake up early and start helping his family in the kitchen. He always strived to help and learn something new from them; the boy was a very attentive listener and an awesome apprentice with a passion for cooking since a young age.
Bottura was an apprentice to chef Georges Coigny who taught him the art of regional Italian and classical French cooking, which Massimo aimed to juxtapose in the future. This experience was precious for him because it was the first serious step in developing his cooking skills. After his restaurant, Osteria Francescana in Modena, earned three Michelin stars with the title of “world’s best restaurant”, “The restaurateur is among the most celebrated culinary personalities on the planet” (Japhe, 2020)
His Start
From a young age, the man developed an interest in cooking due to his family. Firstly, he was studying law; however, he put his education on hold, and in 1986 he decided to buy a roadside trattoria that was on sale, renovate it and open Trattoria del Campazzo (AAE Speakers, 2022). The man saw a great opportunity in that and made the risky but right choice.
In 1995 he opened his second restaurant Osteria Francescana in the center of Modena. Boturra spent summer that year in elBulli with Ferran Adrià, a Spanish chef, which inspired him to break the traditional rules of the industry and be creative in his job. Spending time with the chef, Massimo Bottura was encouraged to integrate innovations; he developed a concept to juxtapose culinary traditions with modern art and design and fulfilled it in his life (AAE Speakers, 2022).
Bottura’s Success
In 2012, his Osteria Francescana was awarded with the third Michelin star.
Boturra closed the restaurant for a while and updated it to “contemporary art and avant-garde cuisine” (AAE Speakers, 2022). Thus, he fulfilled his dream and followed Ferran Adrià’s advice.
In addition, Bottura has some successful restaurants outside Italy.
For instance, in 2014, the restaurateur opened his first restaurant outside of Italy: “Ristorante Italia di Massimo Bottura” in Istambul, Turkey.
In 2018, he opened Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura at the Gucci Garden inside the Palazzo Della Mercanzia in Florence, Italy.
In 2019, the restaurateur was listed among Time’s 100 most influential people in the world.
Participation in Series
The restaurateur participated in cinematograph a few times. Bottura once said, “If you live an incredible moment of happiness, that happiness is much more deep and big if you share it with others.” He and Osteria Francescana were featured in the first season of Netflix’s documentary series Chef’s Table, where was shown the restaurateur’s and restaurant’s life. Furthermore, his restaurant was also featured in the second episode of the second season of Master of None at his request. The man has a strong desire to share with others his happiness, inspire people, and spread creativity to make a world a better place.
Theater of Life
In 2016 Massimo Bottura became a subject of a documentary movie, Theater of Life which is focused on Bottura’s effort to feed struggling people with products that are discarded mainly from the food industry. This warts-and-all movie is aimed to inspire people. The film points out how much food is thrown away and used unwisely (Pollard, 2019). The restaurateur aims to reduce the level of starvation in the world and reckless attitude toward food, making people consider their consumption. Theater of Life made a significant contribution to the world’s environment and influenced many people around the world.
Charity
Here is some information about Massimo Bottura’s charity. Among his busy routine, Bottura finds time for charity: he has founded a nonprofit organization, Food For Soul (Downey, 2018). He states that they treat their guests in shelters the same way as they do in the restaurants for everybody to feel well. This organization is more like a cultural project that shares kindness and beauty.
This organization aims to encourage the community to use food wisely and reduce food waste. He grew up with his nonna, which means grandma in Italian. Since childhood, he was taught how to respect food and not waste it. Once Massimo Bottura was asked to cook for the grand opening; however, he had a better idea: He decided to renovate a derelict theater belonging to a Greco in order to feed there homeless people (Baker, 2022). The man always chooses a good deed instead of gaining hype, success, or money. His contribution to the world is worthless.
His Main Ideas
The interesting question to answer is what drives him and what are his main ideas. Bottura focuses on the global food-waste crisis. The restaurateur once said: “We are 8 billion people on earth. We produce enough food for 12 billion people. Yet 820 million people don’t have anything to eat. It’s criminal.” (Baker, 2022). Essentially, Massimo Bottura aims to make people who suffer from hunger more self-sufficient. The desire for fairness, equality, and wise usage of supplies drive him, and he translates his main ideas through cinematographs, his restaurants, and speeches.
Bottura’s Messages
Bottura sends many positive messages to his audience. For instance, he sees beauty in everything and claims that there is no beauty without kindness; these two concepts can not exist separately (Good Food, 2019). He is fond of the idea of juxtaposing great things, combining them to create something brand new. It seems that he sees the world as a complex picture, and it is impossible for him to separate some things. In addition, he reckons that creativity has to be encouraged, and life has to be perceived optimistically (Golose, 2021). Such an attitude help to be free from miseries and create as much as a person can.
References
Baker, A. (2022). Massimo Bottura wants you to stop wasting your food. Time 2030. Web.
Downey, B., (2018). Chef Massimo Bottura’s message not wasted on drexel community at lecture. Drexel News. Web.
Golose, I. (2021). “Don’t put out the fire of creativity”. Massimo Bottura’s lesson at Identità on the road. Identita Golose. Web.
Japhe, B. (2020). Three-Michelin-starred chef Massimo Bottura opens his first U.S. restaurant. Forbes. Web.
Massimo Bottura and friends on the importance of beauty. (2019). Good Food. Web.
Massimo Bottura biography. (2022). AAE Speakers. Web.
Pollard, N. (2019). Food and film: Theater of Life. Kitchen Detail. Web.