Documenting a place where local wine and classic cooking techniques coexist with state-of-the-art Italian sports cars

For a chef known for recognizing that a broken lemon tart could be the inception of culinary artistry and a deliciously simple tortellini could be transformed into a fine dining specialty, Massimo Bottura can be a mercurial character. He and Lara Gilmore, his wife and partner, have their three Michelin star restaurant, Osteria Francescana, and other culinary spaces in Italy and around the world. Along their path to acclaim, they began collecting world-class art and luxury Italian cars, while continuing to celebrate Italy’s culinary roots and foundational foods like pasta, aged balsamic vinegar and artisanal Parmigiano Reggiano. This juxtaposition of haute and humble lives harmoniously in the lifestyle and community they have created in Modena. 

Chronicling the experience of staying at Casa Maria Luigia (which we first did in 2021), their new book opens the doors to their countryside home to share the creative spirit and inspirational choices throughout the idyllic property. COOL HUNTING sat down with Bottura and Gilmore on a sunny Los Angeles morning to talk about the flavors of the Emilia-Romagna region, the visionary artistry of the Italian automobile industry and how they simmered and stirred this new book, Slow Food, Fast Cars, to life. 

“Massimo came up with the name of the book,” says Gilmore. “It is a phrase he often says about life in Modena.” The colors for the cover came directly from the design of the house, kitchen and garden. Julia Hasting, the Creative Director of Phaidon, designed it. The double effect of the lettering reflects the duality of Casa Maria Luigia: Bottura and Gilmore are the embodiment of traditional and innovative, natural and elevated, straightforward and complex. The book’s photographer, Michael Gardenia, visited Casa Maria Luigia six times to document the changing seasons. They wanted him to have time to experience the property and pick up on the details of the people, architecture, art, food and cars. 

Turning the pages, the images evoke all of the senses from the aromas of the food, the heat of the flames in the outdoor oven, the textures of the flowers on the trees, the colors of the art collection and the sound of the cars. Bottura says, “Casa Maria Luigia is everything. We call it casa because we want to be very humble; it’s not a villa, not a hotel. We invite our guests to come into our home and experience our passion, our way of thinking.” 

Bottura describes growing up in his large family, living together at their boisterous house and how his mother always made room for guests. “She always had the door open for the unexpected,” he says. “And my brother renamed our home Hotel California. Always, always open, come in, come in…let’s have fun.” He remembers a house filled with music and food. Casa Maria Luigia is named to honor Bottura’s mother and her generous hospitality.   

Topics range from house sweets and savories to colorful pantry staples, shared among pages of lush gardens, staff in the kitchen and playing foosball, and the art installations throughout the music room full of vinyl records, the gym and more. “We wanted people to have a feeling of what it looks like and tastes like. The recipes are great to cook from, but they’re also just an invitation to imagine,” says Gilmore. On page 174 is a recipe for bite sized coffee cakes guests might find waiting for them on the counter in the kitchen, where they can meet and talk with the other guests. The fridge is always filled with wine, house made drinks and snacks that can be shared all day. 

This is a place where local wine and classic cooking techniques coexist with state-of-the-art Italian sports cars. “We had this opportunity to bring art and culture to the countryside of Modena, with our crazy contemporary art collection with this deep, profound cultural way of thinking through traditional recipes and reinventing them and just inviting people to explore and that’s the layers of Maria Luigia and the layers of this book. I always trust the process because you don’t try to control it,” says Gilmore.

“Massimo has memorabilia in his garage and in another part of the garage there’s African art and in the middle, you have the “Oops!, I dropped the lemon tart Lamborghini,” says Gilmore, as she tries to give a sense of the whimsical chaos. The car, a surprise for Bottura from the CEO of Lamborghini, was inspired by the origin story of the lemon tart dessert at Osteria Francescana, that accidentally broke into pieces on the floor and went on to be served from that day forward as an artistic recreation of that moment. 

Upstairs guests will find a peaceful room with a stained-glass window by JR. “We saw his exhibition in San Gimignano. It just seemed like a perfect way to bring art out to the countryside,” says Gilmore. “And that particular installation was abouthow farmers are having such a hard time even in Italy, just maintaining a living. We wanted to make sure we had a tribute to that in the property. It’s very quiet, almost like a chapel up there.”

“There’s another very important part of the JR Installation,” adds Bottura. “A poem by Pier Paolo Pasolini. In the ’70s, Pasolini was writing about industrialized climate change and how all the butterflies, fireflies and bees were going to disappear. It’s happening now and he was talking about that 50 years ago. That’s why art is our landscape of ideas, because art is always the highest point of our society. Artists make visible the invisible for us.”

Bottura considers himself to be an artisan, not an artist. “Cooking good food or making amazing Ferraris. It’s an obsession with quality,” he says. “I am a chef and I’m as obsessed with quality as Flavio Manzoni is when he is designing Ferraris.” Bottura feels that one of the most important things that they have done was build a bridge between Ferrari and Lamborghini, Maserati and Ducati. “You switch ‘or’ with ‘and,’ and it’s a totally different perspective for the whole industry and for Emilia,” he says. “In these 30 kilometers we build the most beautiful and desirable cars in the world.” It has become a way to express who they are and where they are from. Furher, they host a yearly event called Motor Valley Weekend, in which all of the cars from around the world come to Casa Maria Luigia.

The house tells the story of the slow foods, but it is also about speed, technology and innovation. The cars represent Italy’s daring and ability to take risks. Bottura, known for his inspired creativity in the kitchen, alongside Gilmore, continues the journey of reinvention, imagination and celebration of their beloved Modena.