Italian restaurateur Massimo Bottura doesn’t see food in isolation. For the chef patron of Osteria Francescana, the three-star Michelin restaurant in Modena, food is also poetry. And rightly so. It does take some conviction to not only serve a broken lemon tart, but to also make it one of their signature dishes, wittily named, Oops! I dropped the lemon tart. “To me, the poetry of what we do is the most important thing... having that space where you can imagine and serve a broken lemon tart in the best restaurant in the world is unbelievable and priceless,” says the 59-year-old celebrated chef, who came to Mumbai last week to host two exclusive dinners at The St Regis Mumbai priced at an eye-popping Rs 35,000 per person.

Brought to the city by culinary platforms, Masters of Marriott Bonvoy and Culinary Culture, Bottura along with his team presented some of his signature dishes, including his childhood favourite The Crunchy Part of the Lasagne, and Beautiful Psychedelic Beet Not Flamed, Grilled, a dish created as a tribute to English artist Damien Hirst’s spin-painted canvases.