In Massimo Bottura's book &ldquo;Slow Food, Fast Cars,&rdquo; readers become guests of the chef and his wife at Casa Maria Luigia, diving into his passions for cars, vinyls, contemporary art, and cooking.

In his new book, "Slow Food, Fast Cars," chef Massimo Bottura, his wife Laura Gilmore, and chef Jessica Rosval tell a story of memories, anecfotes, and recipes.&nbsp; His restaurant Osteria Francescana, has earned Michelin stars, been names in the world's 50 Best Restaurants, and received numerous acolaydes. In a new interview with L'OFFICIEL HOMMES ITALIA, the chef talks about his new location &mdash; Casa Maria Luigia, in the countryside of Modena.
L'OFFICIEL HOMMES ITALIA: I remember from a previous chat, the phrase: &ldquo;If you grew up in Modena when I grew up, you had Parmigiano Reggiano and Balsamic vinegar in your DNA, and the wonderful sound of 8 and 12 cylinders in your ears.&rdquo; Is this a concept that we find in &ldquo;Slow Food, Fast Cars?&rdquo;
MASSIMO BOTTURA: I owe my muscles to Parmigiano Reggiano, a cheese that must mature for at least two years. Rosola's can last up to three...and Balsamic vinegar flows through my veins, which takes up to 25 years because it needs to be refined, and find the right balance. I grew up in a province of healthy competition, listening to the noise of the 6 and 8 cylinders; in Sant'Agata the 10 cylinders... especially the 12 which are part of my life. I remember when I skipped school with friends to watch the 350 or 500 at the racetrack, or Formula 1. LOHI: Which cars convey the most emotions to you?
MB: Growing up in this area, fast cars: in 35 km you have Lamborghini, Pagani, Maserati, and Ferrari. Now there is CPC, a unique company that works with carbon for McLaren, Lotus, and Google. The sense of competition and speed are also part of my way of approaching life and cooking.

LOHI: What characteristics must they have to be part of the collection hosted in the Playground of Casa Maria Luigia?
MB: In the Playground there is the Mistral Maserati that my dad had, the Testa Rossa bought by my brother, who died of cancer shortly after. But also the Ferrari SF 90 that Elkann had me sign; they are cars that are part of my life, all built after 1962 (the year of the chef's birth). And there is the Lamborghini Oops, inspired by the famous dish "Oops, I dropped my lemon tart," a customized car dedicated to the latest title of "The World's 50 Best Restaurant."
LOHI: Another passion of yours is music, is it true that the first room to be designed was the one with your vinyl records?
MB: This is Lara's (Gilmore) story&hellip;I actually hadn't said anything to my wife yet. I'll explain: a lot of things arrive in Francescana. One day, out of the blue, among the things in the office I see a catalog with records. I literally went crazy, as there were some of the most beautiful jazz recordings. The wife of an enthusiast had left it after hearing me say on TV that I loved jazz music and vinyl. Instead of selling it abroad, she would have liked it to remain in Modena. I went to his house, filled the car, and took them to storage. The following week the court awarded us Casa Maria Luigia at auction. When I saw the bookcase, a sage green color that is dear to us,&nbsp; I thought: "It's perfect for our records... but with Lara, I remained vague... I couldn't immediately tell her what I had bought (I can't tell her that I'm still buying vinyls...). But I wanted Casa Maria Luigia (transformed for hospitality, ed.) to be like our home in Modena, where I have a room with thirty-two thousand vinyls. I take refuge there to decompress the adrenaline after the service, and I want our guests to be able to do it too. &nbsp;

LOHI: And then there's the contemporary art, which takes center stage throughout the property. Which pieces are you most attached to? Your wife makes a comparison between Ai Weiwei's work and your cooking... Can you explain?
MB: Difficult to choose. Certainly, Ai Weiwei's triptych where the artist breaks a 2000-year-old vase. It is something extraordinary, not to distance ourselves from history but, as I do in the kitchen - in a critical and never nostalgic way - it breaks with the past to build the future. I also relate to the work of the artist Mick Bidio, Not-Jacson Pollock, which is found in The Green Cat. I had seen one of his exhibitions in Modena, and he inspired me for our new restaurant "Not-barbeque" led by chef Jessica Raval, who studied barbeque after having had ten years of experience in our three Michelin stars.
LOHI: Which and how many kitchens does Casa Maria Luigia have, apart from the kitchen open to guests?
MB: Il Gatto verde (just opened) in the renovated courtyard between the old vinegar factory and the old stables, a magnificent place. We created it in anticipation of ten new rooms, which will be ready around May. Then there is the Osteria Francescana of Casa Maria Luigia where only the iconic dishes are found, and where guests share the table. In a world where everyone gets lost in their cell phones, here they do something cutting-edge: they talk to people they don't know. Sharing is an approach to life that we believe in, see also projects like Food for Soul (a project to help people in difficulty and against food waste.)

LOHI: And then there is "breakfast", which every day recalls the family Christmas dishes.
MB: <span class="s2" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">The first step was creating the barbeque. Then I said to Jessica: "fundamental for Casa Maria Luigia, which is named after my mother, is to create a unique breakfast", and I thought about what my grandmother prepared on Christmas Day, a breakfast that was family. She wasn't a great cook, and unlike my mother who loved to cook, she had to... but at Christmas, she had a crazy breakfast, she cooked everything in the wood oven, and the whole family spent the day in the kitchen. LOHI: In the garden, between the vegetable patch and the countryside, there is the banner &ldquo;Defence of Nature&rdquo; by Joseph Beuys. What can be done for nature, and for those who work with it, often food artisans?
MB: I always say that Osteria Francescana and a few other restaurants in the world are like Renaissance workshops, which create culture, and have become an expression of food and wine tourism, ambassadors and defenders of agriculture. We have relationships with our farmers, cheesemakers, and fishermen, we work with people we respect and love, and who allow us to convey emotions in every dish. People who believe in the beautiful, clean, and fair (even the right price), principles that are of Slow Food to which a part of the book is also dedicated. And then we are committed to social work, with Roots, Tortellante, Food for Soul, this is what high-level catering must do.
LOHI: Where does the enchantment lie in the landscape around Modena? The oaks, the mists, the silence&hellip;
MB: The fog. We haven't had such thick, wonderful fog in a long time. You wake up, you look outside, and you see the countryside but in reality, you see nothing, just a white blanket, the fog for me represents the dream.

Massimo Bottura. Photo courtesy of Michael Gardenia (Fusillo Lab).

Chef Massimo Bottura Talks About His Book “Slow Food, Fast Cars”

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