Massimo Bottura is the highly regarded chef-patron of the three Michelin starred Osteria Francescana in Modena, a restaurant that has been voted best restaurant in Italy many times and currently sits at number three on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. Whilst Ristorante Italia takes some inspiration from the award winning establishment in Modena, Massimo Bottura’s first restaurant outside of Italy is an entirely unique proposition.
At Ristorante Italia, traditional Italian flavours and contemporary cooking techniques come together to bring the very best of the past into the future. Massimo Bottura has reworked 100 classic Italian recipes from the northern Alps to the southern tip of Pantellieria to embrace the diversity and bounty of the Italian kitchen. The resulting dishes form the repertoire from which the menus are drawn. Iconic Italian dishes have been challenged, reimagined and transformed.
Obsessive about seeking out the true flavours of the Italian kitchen, Bottura reveals their elegance, simplicity and beauty through minimal gestures. Ristorante Italia not only uses the very best imported Italian products but, in the pursuit of excellence, the kitchen sources many of its ingredients from Turkish lands and takes advantage of Eataly’s in-house dairy production. Members from Osteria Francescana’s longterm team head up Ristorante Italia whilst Bottura will make regular appearances at the restaurant, which is only a two hour plane ride from home.
Located in the residential Besiktas neighbourhood, just up the hill from the Bosforus, the restaurant sits on the top floor of the immensely popular Eataly.
