Massimo Bottura - First we take Manhattan

Massimo Bottura King of New York!

We catch up with our skinny Italian chef as he takes NYC by storm

It's been a whirlwind week for Massimo Bottura, who's been popping up all over New York to talk about his new book Never Trust A Skinny Italian Chef. On Monday, Columbus Day, he launched the Emilia Burger at Shake Shack, serving hundreds of fans at the burger chain’s original Madison Square Park location between 11am and 2pm.

 

The queue for the Emilia Burger at Shake Shack
The queue for the Emilia Burger at Shake Shack

Naturally a number of notable people stopped by to say hello, including Oscar Farinetti, the founder and owner of Eataly, Danny Meyer, Daniel Humm from Eleven Madison Park, Shake Shack's Culinary Director Mark Rosati, Shake Shack CEO Randy Garruti and Phaidon's very own Emilia, publisher Emilia Terragni, below with Massimo. (And no, the burger's not named after her though you can find out the origin of the name, here). 

 

Massimo and Phaidon Publisher Emilia Terragni at the Shake Shack launch
Massimo and Phaidon Publisher Emilia Terragni at the Shake Shack launch

 

After Shake Shack it was straight off to the Bon Appétit Night Kitchen, where Massimo and his two sous chefs Francesco and David prepared an unbelievable 6-course tasting of dishes from Osteria Francescana for a small crowd of 60 VIPs and press. Check out the full Bon Appetit story under the headline Chef Massimo Bottura Fed Us a Giant Wheel of Old Cheese and We Couldn't Be Happier here.

 

Massimo Bottura at Bon Appétit's Night Kitchen (big old cheese wheel not pictured)
Massimo Bottura at Bon Appétit's Night Kitchen (big old cheese wheel not pictured)

On Tuesday, Massimo woke up early and took a car up the Hudson Valley to the Culinary Institute of America, where he gave an early morning lecture to an audience of 150 culinary students sticking around afterwards to sign their copies of Never Trust A Skinny Italian Chef.

 

Massimo Bottura invites to the Night Kitchen
Massimo Bottura invites to the Night Kitchen

Then it was back into the car and on to a taping of Charlie Rose The Week which was broadcast last night preceeded by our lovely Phaidon video (made by our lovely Emma Robertson). Depending on where you are in the world, you can watch Massimo's Charlie Rose appearance here.

 

Massimo Bottura - New York, October 14
Massimo Bottura - New York, October 14

Then it was on to the 92Y, where Massimo participated in a panel with Wylie Dufresne (wd~50) and Anya von Bremzen. David Chang made a surprise appearance in the audience - much to everyone’s delight! 

Follow this link to the Charlie Rose interview, watch Massimo on Jimmy Kimmel and look out for more Massimo tour news soon. Meanwhile, you can read about the ingredients that make up Massimo Bottura here and buy Never Trust A Skinny Italian Chef from the people who made it here.