Massimo Bottura by Per-Anders Jörgensen, from Eating with the Chefs

Massimo Bottura by Per-Anders Jörgensen

The Eating with the Chefs photographer describes his time shooting the skinny Italian chef in Modena

Massimo Bottura's Osteria Francescana is the third best restaurant in the world according to the  judges of the 50 Best Restaurant Awards. We're publishing a book with Massimo later this year. It's called Never Trust A Skinny Italian Chef and you can pre-order it here . Massimo also features in our new book Eating With The Chefs which documents the daily meal shared by chefs and front of house staff at eighteen of the world's most creative restaurants. The morning after The 50 Best we asked author and photographer Per-Anders Jörgensen about his experiences shooting Massimo. 

"I’ve known Massimo since way back, since the early days. My wife and I went to his restaurant, Osteria Francescana, very early on. We looked at how he came into the dining room and we looked at his New Balance shoes and we looked around the place and we thought, hmm this guy must be really special! Because back then, 12 or so years ago, you really didn’t see a chef wearing sneakers, or with that kind of attitude and surrounding themselves with art.

"Massimo is a dreamer, he’s obviously very Italian, and he’s very special. He has created his own world so you have to be very creative with him. We had a limited crew on the Eating With The Chefs project so we were very focused over the course of the two day shoot.

 

A waiter keeps his shirt clean during a staff meal at Osteria Francescana. Photograph by Per-Anders Jörgensen, from Eating with the Chefs
A waiter keeps his shirt clean during a staff meal at Osteria Francescana. Photograph by Per-Anders Jörgensen, from Eating with the Chefs

"When I shot him more recently for my magazine Fool we did a Fellini 8½-inspired shoot. It was a masterstroke! Massimo got so totally into the role - he loved it. We wanted it be to be very cinematic, like film stills. One of the images scared me so much I texted him!" 

Check out Eating With The Chefs, our new book with Per-Anders which documents the daily meal shared by chefs and front of house staff at eighteen of the world's most creative restaurants. Exquisite photography, coupled with over fifty, easy to follow recipes, provide a unique insight into the ordinary food behind the immaculate kitchen walls. Buy it here and pre-order Never Trust A Skinny Italian Chef here.