Aspire

So sometimes your e-mail is more than random junk, solicitations and endless messages about 50% off at Old Navy. As a pretty loyal American Express customer, they also send me the occasional note about special events, concerts, etc. and for the most part, I usually give those a look. Well, I clicked on one about 6 months ago that I suspect will have a fairly profound effect on me for years to come. The title was “A day with Chef Mossimo Bottura, Modena Italy 🇮🇹” and as I looked at the itinerary – a cooking demonstration, lunch, personal tours of his newly renovated 17th century villa AND dinner at 3-Michelin starred Osteria Francescana – my hand reflexively reached for the mouse just as I read the dreaded words… “Limited Availability”. Well, as many of you that know me probably suspect? That was akin to waving a red cape in front of a bull. Now my friends, it was ON.

Simultaneously dialing AMEX and looking at the calendar – I was thrilled to hear a voice tell me “of course David, we’d be happy to host you”. Ha! step one complete and after a slightly anxiety inducing credit card charge 💸 I was on my way to the land of pasta, wine, tradition and a certain wiry and magical Chef…

Now those of you that have ever been to Italy know that one of its strengths is culture. Oh they have loads of that. But other things, like timeliness 🕐, a sense of order, process? Maybe not so much. If you’re looking for that – they tell you to go to Switzerland 🇨🇭 🤦🏻‍♂️. The reason I bring this up is that I was due to pick up a car in Milan to drive the 2+ hrs to Modena and catch up with the AMEX group. I had arrived the evening before from Stockholm and from a fabulous dinner at Frantzén (another post on that meal to come). So a bit tired and wanting to insure that I didn’t miss my 11am gathering time – I arrived promptly at 8am to the rental car counter to find it… “Chiuso” or closed. Well, I don’t know about you, but when a business where I live says it opens at 8am? It pretty much opens right at 8am. but this is Italy… so 20min later when my new best friend, the car rental clerk nonchalantly strolled past me? I was more than a bit wound up. “Ciao” he said. “Ciao” I replied.

Travel tip: (Ciao in Italy is a multi purpose term. It can mean variously – Hello, Goodbye, Bless your Heart and depending if offered with a hand gesture? Some slightly more interesting things….)

Thinking that this may take a while, I hurriedly handed over my reservation paperwork, drivers license and AMEX only to be told that “We don’t have any cars”. Of course, I was quick to reassure him that I already had a reservation and that if he could just help me into my rig – I’d be on my merry way. Well, after a drag on his cigarette that seemed to last for hours – he reassured me that despite my reservation? “We don’t have any cars”. Uh-oh, PANIC TIME. Well, its now 8:40am – I’m still in Milan and sensing that my coal smoking, espresso drinking, unconcerned clerk was not going to magically discover a car – I doubled back to the main station to try my luck. Hertz? No. Sixt? No. Avis? They said that they might have a full size van 🚐 …. hang on. Tick, Tick, Tick… No, sorry. Uh-oh, we now have a problem for sure 😩. Mentally ticking through my options – maybe a train? Is there UBER in Modena from the station there? Maybe a car service? Maybe a jet-pack? The very kind manager of Avis sensed my building anxiety (or he noticed me breaking into hives, who knows?) and steered me to EuropeCar – 3 blocks away in a hotel lobby. Covering that distance in approximately 2.5min I threw myself (literally) onto the counter and with my last breath said “I HAVE TO GET TO MODENA!” Well, whether it was my plaintive look, sweaty, disheveled appearance or the rosary beads I had in my pocket, they magically produced what they assured me was the VERY LAST CAR available in Milan that weekend.

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Well, I don’t know about your experience – but when you’re on the wrong side of the supply / demand curve? Things get spendy 💶. Suffice to say I left there with pre-paid fuel, every possible permutation of insurance coverage, road side assistance and a “winter driving package” ❄️ which I was told I would ABSOLUTELY need – even though it was late May. So 20min and €650 later? I was finally on my way!

Please be assured that Milan traffic makes Los Angeles seem tame. In fact, Milan has no discernible rules for driving that I could determine AT ALL. Cars, trucks, scooters, bikes, old women with shopping bags and the occasional dog all occupy your lane at any given time. With not even so much as a “Scusami” (Italian for F you) and they are in front, aside and seemingly on top of you. Take my word for it. Its a chaotic, disorderly and frenzied mash-up of LA, Bangkok & NYC with a fair bit of Saigon thrown in for fun.

But I was determined (and also HELLA late) so I pushed my diesel Fiat 500 through the traffic and miraculously found the E35 Autostrada for what was supposed to be a 2hr and 30min drive to Modena. Well, considering that it was already now 10am and the program was to begin at 11:30am? Something was going to have to give. That something my friends was any notion of the speed limit. They say Italy is the land of “slow food and fast cars” and whether you know it or not? That little Fiat was a bit of a smoker. As my Mother will most likely read this, I cannot divulge exactly how fast I went, but lets just say the hot lap that day was not posted at the nearby Maranello racetrack 🚀.

The good news is that my AMEX hosts – Camila and Jen were very proactive, organized and calming – and after hearing of my plight decided to guide me straight to the villa. I assure you that I was anything but calm as I roared into the small and tree lined lane of Casa Maria Luigia.

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Arriving at exactly 12:07pm in a veritable cloud of dust and severely agitated – I was summarily transported into a place that one usually thinks exists only in movies or in those glossy magazines like Town and Country or perhaps in Gucci photo shoots. An immaculately restored 17th century Italian villa, Casa Maria is named for Chef’s mother and is nothing short of a dreamscape. It is beautiful, light and filled with objects that one can only guess at for their provenance and import. It’s truly magnificent.

As they were expecting me, I was greeted and ushered into an impossibly beautiful carriage house which is now a demonstration kitchen and meeting space. Walking into the back of the room, I heard a familiar voice – the one from Chef’s Table, 60min, endless interviews and press. Chef Massimo Bottura. The #1 Chef in the world and a true pioneer in reinventing Italian cuisine. Using the past simply as a reference, he was waxing on about how ideas, dreams and a fair dash of whimsy can make for a creative and unique approach to traditional dishes. Ciao Massimo.

Gone immediately was the anxiety, agitation and wrinkled brow. Replaced instead by an immediate sense of curiosity and enchantment as I listened to him describe a famous dish called “Autumn in New York”. Now I’m not sure about the creative process – as I tend to be less than an artist in most things I do? But to hear a true creative genius speak abut his inspiration and how he looks to compress his passions of art, music, fashion into “edible bites” I began to be transported.

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As a home cook, listening, asking questions and interacting with him was simply one of the best experiences of my life. It served to reinforce a notion that I had stumbled upon organically, that everything you love, shows in your food. That if you care, if you are trying to please and serve others with what you make? It shows. Chef instilled the thought that the dialogue with his diners begins with the palate and that delicious food can be the only result if love, creativity and passion are in the work. Hearing him speak about poetry, light and dreams? Well, in that space, on that day it all made perfect sense. This is a man who is not bound by rules, convention or expectations. His mission is to change the world and to show the power of a vision executed with passion. One that is set to Billie Holliday music and surrounded by world-class art. To Chef Massimo, wine, pasta, Balsamico and his beloved Parmigiano Reggiano are all just colors on an insanely beautiful canvas that he adds to every day. A life in full bloom, for all to see and emulate.Ciao Massimo.

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After an hour or so of workshop and a leisurely tour of Casa Maria – we were treated to a bespoke lunch of tortellini, a chilled soup redolent with herbs from his garden, a hand-held caesar salad with sharp cheese and insanely delicious fried Italian bread to fill with artisanal mortadella and prosciutto. The highlight was having Chef show me the art of the Italian sandwich. Surprisingly? Its quite simple… Take a freshly turned out Gnocco Frito, pile it impossibly high with mortadella (and maybe a bit of prosciutto if it will fit) and then slather it with 50yr old Balsamico that if you could find it at your local Whole Foods or Gelson’s would cost approximately as much as my plane ticket to Milan did. But hey? As Chef said himself… “Why not? You don’t have to pay here…” 😅 Indeed, Chef. Indeed.

Funny – but I was never a big fan of Balsamico. Not the cheap stuff available at our local Raley’s nor the really expensive stuff I’ve tried in trips to Europe previously. It just really didn’t appeal to me that much. But like many other things, as you open up your mind (and palate) to new and wonderful visions and to someone with the passion, charm and charisma of Chef? I find myself tonight sitting in front of my screen writing this post with a bowl of sliced, perfectly ripe strawberries drizzled with aged Balsamico… and being transported to a sunny day in Modena, spending one-on-one time with no one less than the most interesting Chef in the world. Ciao Massimo.

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So what to say about a day like this? that it was amazing, unbelievable, peripatetic and more than a bit insane? 🤣 Yes, it was all of those things. But it was also a fantasy. It was a look into a life, in fact a whole ecosystem of lives fueled by nothing more than a dream and the crazy belief that it can come true. The Maestro in full effect.

From humble beginnings, through a nomadic and somewhat disorganized journey via professional kitchens all over the world, to a small Osteria in Modena that almost went bankrupt..to the absolute top of the game. Number 1 restaurant in the world, a 10yr waiting list for reservations, an arbiter of style, singular ambassador for Italian cuisine and distinguished patron of charities and the arts. All of this fueled by the notion of leaving room for poetry in your life and dreaming of what “can” be…

It makes one believe. Believe in things that seem way beyond our normal day-to-day of work, obligations, reasons we can’t or won’t pursue our passions. It makes one believe that it just may be possible to live your OWN life more as a dream. Perhaps a sunny dream with delicious food, remarkable wine and surrounded by art in a beautiful place, far, far away. Ciao Massimo, Ciao.

🙏🏼🇮🇹♥️

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Thank you to @barnabydraper for some of the images in this post.