Three months of inactivity are good for something. At least there is no lack of time to think about how to start again, when the time comes, and to do it in style. This is the case of the Osteria Francescana in Modena, the multi-award-winning starred restaurant of chef Massimo Bottura, which has reopened its doors with a special and brand new menu. It was known that music was a passion of the well-known chef and that gastronomy can often be combined with other artistic forms, but this time Bottura amazed everyone: the new menu looks more like a playlist and is entirely inspired by Beatles songs. The dishes, or rather the titles, are 11, shown on 2 pages, one in Italian and one in English, even if in truth the titles of the songs are already in English, so the only difference is the pairing with the wine, which becomes wine pairing.
To give the name to the imaginative creations Bottura has dusted off the great classics of the Liverpool band, whose cultural revolution after so many decades is still capable of influencing even the kitchen: so the album Sgt. Pepper's Loney Hearts Club Band cannot miss the dish LSD, acronym of "Lucy in the sky with diamonds", but also “A day in life”, “Yellow submarine”, “Strawberry fields”, or puns like “In Thea Sky Without Lucy”, another plate dedicated to the album Sgt. Pepper's Loney Hearts Club Band and also allusive titles like “We Are All Connected Under One Roof”, referring to the Beatles' legendary Rooftop Concert on January 30, 1969 in London. But let's see one by one these suggestive dishes.
LSD
Lysergic opening in the hyper-concentrations with evanescent meringues that contract in the mousse in which the first (Rose) pushes on vibrant acidities that are grafted on the earthy of the Red Turnip, acceleration that evaporates in the second (Green) balsamic of mint, basil, lime in power " quintessential" and with the latter "grounding" in the third (Orange) based on a carrot in which the earthiness is relaunched by a ginger cultured in its most rooted meaning of the term.
A Day in the Life
Puffed bread, knotted with Casa Maria Luigia honey and salt crystals
Cellophane Flowers & Kaleidoscope Eyes
Cuttlefish, cuttlefish ink, scallops, mussels and bottarga
Yellow Submarine
Turbot, potatoes, pineapple, daikon, flowers
Strawberry Fields
Rice with strawberry gazpacho, lambrusco, shrimps, smoked mozzarella and Sechuan pepper
If the'm Wrong l'm Right
Cod in green curry sauce
We Are All Connected Under One Roof
Ravioli, smoked pork belly, Goro clams and New England clam chowder
Who's Afraid of Red Yellow Green and Orange
Glazed pigeon with blueberry and elderberry, cherry sauce, pigeon croquette with apricot and savor
In and Out of Style
Crème caramel with milk, foie gras, caramel and Manuka honey
Summer Is Coming
Yogurt mousse crumble, peas granita, strawberries, carrots, azuki and shiso, potato and basil origami
In The Sky Without Lucy
Roasted peaches, blueberry sauce, birch syrup, rosemary ice cream, rose meringue, cotton candy and amaretti biscuits
Sgt Pepper's Loney Hearts Club Band (reprise)
Vignola, Camouflage, raspberry macaron, yuzu madeleine
