Chef Patron Osteria Francescana

Founder Food for Soul

UNEP Goodwill Ambassador

A restaurateur and entrepreneur for more than thirty years, Massimo Bottura is one of the most innovative and influential personalities on the world gastronomic scene.

In 1995, he opened his restaurant Osteria Francescana in his hometown Modena. The restaurant’s numerous awards – three Michelin stars in 2012 and the first place in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2016 and 2018 – helped to assert the chef’s reputation globally. Over the years, other projects were born that are now part of the Francescana Group: in Italy, Franceschetta58, Cavallino, Gucci Osteria Firenze and the guesthouse Casa Maria Luigia, and around the world, Torno Subito Dubai and Gucci Osteria in Beverly Hills, Tokyo and Seoul. In 2015, together with his wife Lara Gilmore, he founded Food for Soul, a non-profit association and cultural project aimed at combating food waste and social isolation. In recognition of his humanitarian and environmental commitment, in 2020 Bottura was appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Program and Osteria Francescana was awarded the green Michelin star.