“I’m going to America”: Massimo Bottura lands in Hollywood, the first Italian chef in the Walk of Fame

It is the first time, both for Massimo Bottura both for Gucci: together in the United States, between outdoor tables and a sprawling view on Beverly Hills from the roof of the Los Angeles, for about fifty guests seven days a week, for lunch and dinner. Gucci Osteria thus expands the scope of the three Michelin star chef’s collaboration with the prestigious brand after the opening of the Osteria (also recently awarded its first star) at the Garden in Florence.

The partnership has distant origins: it starts from a friendship between the Emilian chef and Marco Bizzarri, president and CEO of the famous brand, born when they were children. Both share the great enthusiasm for two fundamental aspects in Italian culture such as food and fashion. They therefore grew up together in Modena, challenging each other to innovate, each in its own area, thus creating a destination full of passionate tradition seen through lenses of great creative originality.

Massimo Bottura e Karime López, the first Mexican female chef to receive the Michelin star from Gucci Osteria in Florence, they worked side by side with Mattia Agazzi for the opening in Beverly Hills after the latter had been the second of the cook in Italy. The menu will be deeply Italian, inspired as much by the three professionals’ careers and travels around the world as by their love of music and art. There will of course be symbolic dishes like tortellini with Parmigiano Reggiano cream and the now legendary Emilia Burger, but there will be new California-inspired creations with organic products from the local farmers’ market, in order to honor the complex variety of gastronomic influences from around the world that can only be found in Los Angeles.

This is how Massimo Bottura will develop, transforming them, classic Italian recipes into intercultural compositions. It will do this by mixing raw materials, techniques and flavors in every single dish in the scenario of a metropolis at the cutting edge on the culinary front. The restaurant interiors include many references to the details of the Osteria in Florence, with the same wallpaper, the antique mirrors, the red marble tables and the woven wicker chairs. What makes the Los Angeles office unique are the herringbone wood floors and the cherry red velvet sofas, while the outdoor terrace features Italian mosaic marble flooring with an ancient wooden pulpit as an outdoor bar.