58
FRANCESCHETTA
“is Osteria Francescana’s little sister. Inspired by the contemporary Italian pantry with influences from culinary traditions around the peninsula as well as souvenirs from our travels, Francschetta58 is an unexpected deviation from a traditional osteria.” www.franceschetta.it
My friends and I decided that we should know and try some of the flavors of Massimo Bottura since we were in Italy so we lanced to have a look at Osteria Francescana in Modena and try to make a reservation, but it was impossible at least until October, so we resigned ourselves; however, following Massimo on Instagram we found towards many Post of Franceschetta58; I researched a little and I found that La Franceschetta58 was born when Massimo Bottura obtained its third Michelin star and decided to open a Bistro that would be an alternative to Osteria Francescana, approaching tendencies for modern citizens and seeking to bring quality cuisine to young people, who due to budget´s issues, almost never would have the opportunity to visit and get first-hand knowledge of quality cuisine with quality raw materials.
“In Franceschetta the service modality is different, in order to try more dishes, this is the reason why dishes are medium portions. “
@Franceschetta58
In the menu รก la carte, one highlight aspect is that the categories have the same price for each option, this is controversial because a salad costs the same as a plate with protein, but it was on purpose so people will focus on choosing and exploring flavors rather than the price, which is what usually happens, whether it is very economic or if it is more expensive, tend to create expectations just for the price.
This really motivates us to go and visit the place.
@Franceschetta58
1
First approach ... reservation.
The reservation was made online and in two days they gave us a response, it was very fast, without complications and the options of available dates were convenient, although a
bit distant (1 month after the reservation) which could be because we were a group of 9 people. A week before our arrival date, they wrote us an email confirming which menu we were going to select and at that moment we remembered that our vegan friend was going with us and in the options there were no vegan options for her; we replied them that 5 of us would take the Short tasting menu, 2 of us the Long tasting menu and one vegan menu, if they could have one. They answered 30 minutes later saying that we should choose only one of the tasting menus for all and they will do something special for our vegan friend. At that moment it didn’t have sense for us but we all chose the short menu, our vegan friend was not convinced so she decided not to go.
2
Arrival.
The moment arrived, we traveled from Milan to Modena; we were surrounded by the old streets, the Duomo , the Ferrari exhibition that awaited us in the central
square and the nice stores that seduced us; it was Saturday and the atmosphere in the city center was very festive, many people walking, just like us, meeting and buying, we had to run because the reservation was at 8 pm and the restaurant was not so close to the central area of the city, rather in a more residential area. At 7:45 we were 7 girls running through Modena to arrive in time to meet with Franceschetta. We arrived walking and found the building in front as in the Instagram photos, at that time it was still sunny and it looked like they were waiting for us, the streets were silent and alone. As soon as we got closer we saw the splendid window “I love Modena� that showed us the interior of the restaurant.
Obviously we all started taking photos and we could not agree because of the emotion, so one of the cooks came out to give us a hand, he placed us perfectly so that the 7 of us were in the photo without covering the name and from inside of the restaurant, the staff posed for us, it was great. We were the first to arrive and the whole team greeted us, they were literally waiting for us ‌ we entered with a bit of shyness
3
The first impression.
Being inside, it felt as if an avalanche had entered, we were 7 plus the person who accommodated us and we felt that we did not fit, the door and the bar was very close
and we all wanted to enter first so it was a narrow space feeling with many objects around that we had to be careful not to knock down, almost like entering a house; the bar to the right of the corridor was full of hams, fruits, flowers and the wall behind it with candle decoration and glasses of the service that made it feel a little narrow but at the same time very welcoming. To the left just in front of the main bar was a mini bar that served as a high table to accommodate more people. At the end of the corridor, on both sides, tables were set for 2 and 4 people, unlike ours, which was the longest. All tables had the service set with different style dishes and colors, also the glasses and in the center some small plants next to the jugs of the grandma with the silver cutlery, this made the space look very colorful and fun; lamps like full moons illuminated the center of place.
The spot lights around the walls distributed well the lighting of the whole place; In general, the feeling was like going to eat at a relative's house, orderly and clean but casual, the decorative plates on the walls were very colorful and gave it a random look, a fun touch, as well as the amount of elements on the table, especially the cutlery inside jars. The main bar was really the attention point, it was full of details that made it very enjoyable to see, strange elements were there among the antiques, the ingredients and elements of the service.
4
Time to eat.
When we sat down, the first thing we were offered were the drinks, a selection of Italian wines, we ask for some help and a suggestion related with the food we would try this night and the youthful
enviroment in the table; the selected one was Lambrusco di Modena that was a perfect complement to the experience, fresh, sparkling and cold. Our food selection was Tradizione in Evoluzione that was described as: • Emilia Burger di Massimo Bottura. • Tortellini in crema di Parmigiano Reggiano. • Pancia di maiale con spinaci, scalogno marinato e salsa alle marasche. •Torta sabbiosa dell’antica ricetta con crema al mascarpone e marasche calde. Before starting the tour of the menu we had selected, we were given a very soft tomato-based starter that, for my taste, combined two types of tomatoes, one soft and sweet and one more acid and bitter next to a
Parmesan foam (Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese) that really was one of the best flavors of the night because the ingredients and flavors were not so obvious and the explosion of new sensations on the palate was exciting. Each dish that arrived to the table was explained, very general, with the ingredients they had, without much more details unless we asked something in particular. After about 3 minutes the Burger di Massimo Bottura arrived, which surprised me a lot, specially the small size of the box, very discreet; when it opens it highlights the spectacular green of the sauce and the size of the meat. Initially it was fun because we did not know how to eat it, we had the service of cutlery but the meat was high, lots of sauce and crispy bread ... it could be more disastrous to try to cut the hamburger and slip on the plate ... we had to do a few tests before agreeing that even if it was in a restaurant like this ,that I I would call “casual fine dinning “ we had to guarantee that we could enjoy it and it was better to use our hands. The meat was exquisite, juicy, with hidden flavors of some aromatic flavors and something similar to bacon that owed a special touch,
the sauces, green and black along with the crusty bread made a super combination of flavors and textures, although for me, the height of the meat was a little exaggerated, because I have small mouth and it was difficult to give a single bite, but in general this dish was exquisite, relaxing and broke the protocol that maybe we were waiting for. We did our best to not get dirty but it was almost impossible, at the end we could not waste anything of this delight and we even suck our fingers. While the next dish arrived, the wine took a better shape and the conversation too, as we were all happy with this masterpiece by Massimo Bottura and we were grateful that our vegan friend had not come with us because meat was the center of the whole conversation. The third course arrived and we started to get out of the clouds we were in, because the expectations we had were very high and almost none was sure of what we were going to eat; in our mind was only Massimo Bottura, products and presentation of quality, surprises everywhere. This dish was as simple as our university lunches, the taste was strong for many of us
who are not used to Parmigiano and compared with the first we tried, it was not something that really made us comment a lot, like way, we ate it calmly, trying to get the best out of this presentation on our palate, there were not many comments for these tortellini because the level had already started very high with the starter and the Burger. Almost 15 minutes passed and we thought that only the dessert was missing, because we were full and we felt that a lot of time had passed for another dish according to the sequence in times that we had felt in the previous ones, so the topic of conversation was ... “we are the youngest of the clients who visit the place todayâ€?, most were couples, all Italians, who looked much older, without many topics of conversation at the table, because the place felt calm and although everyone was sitting very close to each other, I did not feel the presence of other diners like in other similar restaurants. This reminded me the concept I had seen in a video of Massimo, where he said that this format sought to bring young people to quality cooking‌ it is possible that more than young people, older people are also looking for casual places, with an excellent service and recognition of a chef as guarantee,
to explore and to eat an excellent quality because there are many more casual places for the youngest people that, perhaps, are not of this hight quality but are easier to unite. In this case, I would think that the space is also limiting and makes it uninteresting to return if you are young, (except if you have a partner) and you want to have a cozy an quiet dinner time with him/her, but for non couples, the space is extremely quiet and do not happen much more that the food.
- Almost everyone was just eating, we went to experience something of Massimo Bottura, we were doing the deconstruction of each flavor, each texture -
Finally, the next couse, Pancia di maiale with spinaci, scalogno marinato and alle marasche sauce ... oh oh ... (Pork belly with spinach, marinated shallot and sauce) I was a bit scared because it looked delicious but I felt so full, the tortellini's sauce, for me , was very salty and I felt I would not be able to taste any more salt, but I could not be there and say no, so the wine gave us courage for the adventure of the next dish which in general was a little disappointed, the flavors were not close to anything I had try before; I imagined that caramel-colored piece of meat with a sauce that in my imaginary seemed bittersweet and reminded me of the pork ribs,but not at all, the steamed vegetables were very bitter and I did not understand if they were there to be eaten or as an aromatic side jut to complement, any way I tryed it and it seemed in my memories as a wild grass flavors that moms remove from the garden so that it does not harm the as other herbs. The pork was absolutely fatty and maybe that was the special thing about the dish, but for me it was impossible to eat it, I had to do an exhaustive search of where the meat was and separate it from the gelatinous fat that in my memory of flavors, could not
be part of my casual fine dining concept, it was terrible. What I loved from this dish was the scalogno marinato (like little onions ) with the flavor that the meat brought at that moment, I ate mine and some from two friends,I could not finish the meat, I felt that I could not attack my body with this fat after having eaten those other dishes that were so delicate in general. At that point I already felt that I wanted to leave the restaurant, I felt full and we had been sitting for two hours, my body asked to walk to see if I could sleep that night after eating and especially the meat that was really heavy. 5 minutes later the dessert arrived and I almost said that please pack it, I wanted it but not at that moment, however when they were all served, the table was filled with a delicious, delicate aroma, like to narajas, to cake freshly baked and the black saucepan that contained the sabbiosa cake dell'antica ricetta with mascarpone cream and marasche calde told me eat me now! I explored the plate with the spoon, giving me time for my stomach to understand that there should be room for dessert, while my friends did the same, took pictures and others were already finishing the dessert.
We commented ... this looks like it tastes like sweet butter, it's delicious but all this fat who knows where it's going to get to us ... we all laughed and said, '' it will get to the boobies ... no no, to the butt '' said others .. and the most sarcastic said ... tomorrow you will see this dessert literally on our faces ! ... ( scared faces ) The first thing I did was to open the cake with the spoon and it was very soft and it looked freshly baked, more smell came from it, I tasted it alone, then with the mascarpone sauce and then with the red fruit jam that gave it the acid touch and that i extended to the maximum to be able to maintain that combination in each spoonful.
The dessert was exquisite, simple but full of flavors, temperatures and textures, it was a good closing to this adventure.
5
Arrivederci.
The staff was very friendly and willing to answer our questions all the time, there were 3 people who were attending us, in a very professional but relaxed and fun way at the same time, the kitchen was hidden and it seemed that it was very small however there was no door so we could see something inside, I was very curious about the fact that in such a small space, in general the whole restaurant, the temperature of the environment was perfect and there were no smells of any kind in the environment, the music was a good company all the time. Most of the other customers had already left, we were only 3 tables out of the 10 that we were initially, the hams, cheeses and fruit from the bar was already collected. We could not finish the visit without paying a visit to the bathroom, which was fine, clean and with a fun chair, which I do not think anyone use, was a bit intimidating but gave the place a casual and fun touch. The visit to the Franceschetta ended with three hours of night walk through the city to digest everything we had eaten.
Catalina Velรกsquez Saavedra SPD - Master in Food Design and Innovation 2018 Food and Wine Culture - Prof. Federico De Cesare Viola Vitis to Franceschetta, May 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjY4n6HfxN8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ayWWCkWa6Q http://reportergourmet.com/62926/la-nuova-franceschetta-di-massimo-bottura-e-bernardo-paladini.html http://gazzettadimodena.gelocal.it/modena/cronaca/15/03/2017/news/conti-in-cucina-i-guadagni-degli-chef-pluristellati1.15034346-?refresh_ce http://gazzettadimodena.gelocal.it/polopoly_fs/1.15034345.1489573648!/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/detail_558/image.JPG http://reportergourmet.com/62926/la-nuova-franceschetta-di-massimo-bottura-e-bernardo-paladini.html