Name: Osteria Francescana
Address: Modena, IT

Massimo Bottura's small Modena dining room, where Emilian tradition is taken apart and rebuilt with wit, and rated the best restaurant in Italy again in 2026.

By Dimitris Stathopoulos

The cooking

Parmigiano in five textures, tortellini reduced to a whisper, memory and irony on the plate. Serious craft that refuses to take itself entirely seriously.

Why it is in VANE

A landmark of modern European cooking that never lost its sense of place, or its humour.

Where

Via Stella, Modena

Kitchen

Chef Massimo Bottura

Style

Modern Emilian

Signature

Five Ages of Parmigiano Reggiano

Best for

A pilgrimage lunch

VANE selection. Chosen with a critic's eye and judged independently. It's here because we judged it, not because it paid.
On this profile: a researched profile, drawn from the restaurant's own record and reporting, not a claim of a first-hand visit. Where we have eaten there, the review says so.
Image: Photo: TravelPhotosNL, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)