OSTERIA FRANCESCANA

Honestly was very excited for this restaurant. The atmosphere, although a tiny bit stuffy, was in line with other restaurants of the same caliber around the world. The place felt a little contrived. Everyone enters at the same hour, so you feel as though you are being watched from every angle. That aside, the staff was mostly comprised of eager students during a 2-3 month internship from surrounding areas. Everyone was kind and friendly, which was refreshing. The sommelier, felt stuffy, but par for the course in a place of the same level elsewhere. Now let’s get to the food— the main heart of the experience which was the reason for attending. We had hoped for a multi course tasting menu, but we were advised to stick to the original a la carte menu, since we were first time diners. Since we were four diners, we decided to try all the dishes that Francesana was famous for. Since we were four people… two of us started with the five aged parmegiano antipasti, which was beyond rich and too heavy to start. We had a few bites of that each, and couldn’t even finish it between four of us. One had the foie gras popsicle w balsamic, which was very novel but would have been too much for one person. The other had the culatta, which was the best dish overall. They served a delicious sticky honey and salt bread, which pair amazingly w the culatta— with everything else, it was too heavy. We did not finish any of the four antipasti, due to the richness of the ingredients. Next up was the 1st course. Two ordered the tagliatelle ragu, which was excellent, but the portion was wasted due to it being too large. It was enough to share. One ordered the oyster/caviar risotto, also excellent, but equally large in size and went to waste. The fourth person ordered the parmigiano tortellinis which was beyond heavy and wasted, because one could only eat a few bites before feeling nauseous. Sickenly heavy and gluttonous, a true waste of good ingredients. Lastly was our third courses. We had ordered two “piggy goes to market”— each plate had large four pieces of pork belly, and some “piggies” cut from giardiniera. I am sorry but this dish was an embarrassment for the restaurant. The portl belly was ok, not tender, not overly tasty. The dish “decorated” with some sauces, and the pigs cut out of vegetables. Maybe this was something exciting 15 years ago, but we couldn’t believe the cost of what the plate was. We are seasoned diners with a world of experience, and we felt that we had been taken advantage of. The lobster dish was meager at best and the foui gras/caviar/meat conconction was the most contrived dish on the planet. I felt sorry for any foolish diner that enjoyed this thinking they were experiencing someone unique because clearly the chef was laughing all the way to the bank on these dishes. Each was flavored to the extreme, and almost inedible due to the heaviness of each bite. We would have been just as happy at the local mercato dining on local delicacies without the pomp and circumstance of such a contrived pretentious meal. Lastly, we had three desserts, again almost inedible. The lemon tart was the best of the lot, but not worth the 60 euro price tag. The zuppe inglese was a deconstructed mess with a gelatin overlay and everything underneath was just as good in any other local restaurant. And the last of it included a sacher torte inspired region dessert, which after two bites was equally heavy and rich, and no one could finish it. What a waste of food, not to mention a waste of money. €1600 was the total, we were four people, two adults/two children. One bottle of wine and two aperitivos of sparkling regional wine. I felt completely taken advantage of and honestly completely embarrassed for the establishment. I understand Massimo is a chef of noteriety, and appreciate that he is. But this meal had no resemblance of those qualities of a michelin starred chef, only of s chef whose fame has gone to his head, and he leaves his diners for fools who buy into his scheme. I would not recommend this.

This place does not deserve three stars anymore. Not with lackluster dishes sprinkled throughout the menu (first three dishes or so passed by with a yawn) , not with the somber ambiance and especially not with that absolutely unhelpful condescending child they call their sommelier.

When you’re in Modena where you throw a stone in the air and hit three awesome restaurants that charge 1/10th of what you do, you better deliver

Una bellissima esperienza enogastronomica e sensoriale anche se non memorabile. Forse l'aspettativa era troppo alta. Nel menù degustazione alcuni piatti super e diversi che non rimangono impressi nella memoria... Non sono affatto pentito, intendiamoci ma vorrei condividere una considerazione personale: accetto senza riserve il prezzo del menù perché lo ritengo adeguato all'enorme "macchina" che ci sta dietro ma abbiamo concluso con 2 bicchieri di vino da dessert al costo di 60€ quando l'intera bottiglia da 500ml costa 40€ al pubblico! Con un rincaro di quasi il 400%! Credo sia eccessivo e ingiustificato anche per Chef Bottura.

It was a long wait for finally dining here. The 12-course tasting menu sounds exciting, though not all the courses meet the high expectations. There are some surprises and interesting tastes and my personal favourite is the desert. Also like the breadsticks. It is a nice experience and one of the bucket list restaurants checked ✅

Buonissimo