“Casa Maria Luigia is a home and a hotel…It is imaginary and real,” writes Lara Gilmore in Slow Food, Fast Cars: Casa Maria Luigia - Stories and Recipes, the new book she co-authored with chef Massimo Bottura, her partner in life and fine dining. Together, they’ve created such restaurants as the three-Michelin-star destination Osteria Francescana. But Gilmore began her career writing about art, and Slow Food, Fast Cars (out from Phaidon on December 6) marries a number of genres, from cookbook to essay collection to exhibition catalog and beyond.
The book is also a meditation on time, as Gilmore charts the evolution of a derelict countryside manor in Emilia Romagna into an idyllic bed-and-breakfast where some of the world’s finest chefs ply their trade, and which is filled with Ducatis, Ferraris, and contemporary art by the likes of Ai Weiwei, Tracey Emin, and Joseph Beuys. Casa Maria Luigia welcomed its first guests four whirlwind years ago; since then, it’s witnessed a global pandemic, a cataclysmic local storm, and the opening of two new on-site restaurants (an outpost of Osteria Francescana and Al Gatto Verde, focused on wood-fired cuisine.) Now, Gilmore and Bottura are paying homage to their expansive property outside Modena.
Here, Vogue speaks to the authors (including a FaceTime tour of the Casa courtesy of Gilmore) and Casa Maria Luigia’s head chef, Jessica Rosval, about rethinking hospitality, creating characters out of iconic artwork and iconic dishes, and why passion always comes from obsession.
Vogue: At the beginning of Slow Food, Fast Cars, Lara, you write: “Rural Emilia is a landscape of brick farmhouses holding their place against time.” You talk about the unexpected discovery of a property that looked, in your words, “like a bruised peach.” You quickly fell in love with that bruised peach. Can you talk a bit about your experience of the local countryside and why the property spoke so much to you?
Lara Gilmore: This project was not one that began with an Excel sheet. It began with an emotional reaction to a place and the possibilities we saw there and with my own personal discovery of the Emilian countryside. I’d been living in Modena for twenty-five years but realized, when we opened Casa Maria Luigia, that I didn’t know anything about the countryside ten kilometers from my house. I saw that it stimulated Massimo and provided a whole different sense of freedom and possibility—him pruning roses, me planting a vegetable garden. And when Jessica became head chef and we talked about the wood-burning oven, I saw her eyes light up as well. She and I are both North American women, so we brought that element to the Modenese countryside too.
Jessica Rosval: It was a huge challenge to create a food and beverage offering that would reflect not only the place we are in but also do justice to a rich history.
Massimo Bottura: To be successful in life, you have to be obsessed…That’s the real thing of creativity: dreaming and transforming your passion and obsession to communicate emotions. When I talk about cars, it’s because I grew up with the sound of an 8-cylinder [engine] and 10-cylinder, and the 12-cylinder that Ferrari came out with… How do the Lamborghini and Ferrari sound different? It’s like music. We grew up with the sound of opera in Modena, We grew up with the flavors of Parmigiano Reggiano and balsamic because it’s in our veins, our blood, our muscles. Always, we drank too much Lambrusco. If you have a passion, you can transfer it into something emotional.
The word “company” comes up in a few different places in the book and I thought it was interesting because it speaks to this interplay between guests and family which is central to the bed-and-breakfast concept. How does the hospitality at Casa Maria Luigia differ from the hospitality at your restaurants?
LG: We’re definitely blurring the lines here. We all try to be professionals when we’re on the property [pauses to show her Casa Maria Luigia shirt]. With that said, we’re around all the time. A guest will find me in the kitchen in the summer, barefoot, with some fresh-picked branches, putzing around and moving records or flowers or books. When Jessica and her team bring in ingredients or the truffle man comes, guests experience these moments. We want them to feel that they’re always seeing behind the scenes. Guests look in the kitchen and chat with Eduardo who is making their cappuccinos.
JR: Our service doesn’t start at lunch hour or 8 p.m., it’s 24 hours a day. It’s a completely different world [from the other restaurants]. A lot of the stories in the book are about us discovering Casa Maria Luigia, seeing a lot of potential, and letting it grow organically with us as we grow organically as hoteliers.
MB: We couldn’t make a [traditional] five-star luxury hotel because it’s not who we are. First off, we said let’s call it “casa,” which means “home.” Before the pandemic, when I was traveling 170 days a year, the thing I missed most was home. So, we decided to create this completely different experience. Our guests come from all over the world and are invited to open the door of the music room, as if it’s their home away from home, and play one of the 8,000 vinyls—from Maria Callas to Charlie Parker—and enjoy. They’re invited to go into the kitchen, which is always open, like the kitchen of my mom, Maria Luigia. There’s always something ready in the refrigerator and always space for an unexpected guest.
JR: The guests see Mario and Lara walking around because it really is an extension of their home. As staff, we also feel a huge sense of proprietorship because we’ve all had such a hand in building this place. Mario and Lara have given all of us so much trust over the years to make decisions.
MB: Even the most VIP guests feel this ‘authentic’ experience here. Last year, we had all these movie stars staying here for the Ferrari movie [out December 2023], and at midnight, we would have pizza near the pool—Patrick Dempsey calling down to Jess, “What are we having for dinner?” It felt like a Neapolitan home in the middle of the country.
The book defies genre, with various voices and styles of writing in addition to recipes and photography of food, art, and design. What led you to structure it this way?
LG: The desire to write this, our third book, was because I saw all these stories accumulating and all of this learning happening and I thought “If I don t put it down now, I’m going to forget and we’re already going to be in another place and time.” The book was a way to hold time for a minute and think about this particular moment in our lives and how we got here. We also wanted a book that has everything from a chocolate chip cookie to an amazing focaccia—this whole range to show that Francescana isn’t just a three-Michelin star restaurant.
JR: I like to think that what I contribute to Casa Maria Luigia and also to the book is the perspective of an outsider chef walking in. Getting out of the Michelin star grind and routine and applying that to, say, breakfast or snacks that somebody is just going to casually eat throughout the day [breakfast is included in the stay and guests are invited to take composed meals, snacks, and desserts from the refrigerator]. Or a barbecue with a casual vibe, but with all this storytelling and use of local ingredients. Asking myself, how does Osteria Francescana translate to the Emilian countryside?
MB: The recipe for the book is a little touch of my grandmother with a mix of Ferrari, a little touch of Parmigiano and balsamic vinegar, bake with Joseph Beuys, and a lot of maple syrup but also some wood that has been aged after a tornado. In that book there is everything we believe in. It’s about always leaving the door open for the unexpected and keeping space for poetry—this is the book and this is Casa Maria Luigia.
LG: We still don’t know what this book is. It’s also about decorating but not decorating. It comes from within, it’s part of our story.
There’s definitely a lot of design, both interior and furniture in the book. Can you talk about your approaches to design?
MB: We are not tied to any one style, school of thought, or design aesthetic. We are attracted to beautiful things that have depth and storytelling behind them. These objects, whether new or vintage, come together like pieces of a puzzle to create an interesting space. For sure, Lara and I are not minimalists. She is drawn to color and likes to play with patterns and colors to create a mood. I am more interested in shapes and how they invite you into a space.
We have so many friends in the design world who we adore and respect…like Piero Lissoni whose Extrasoft sofa is in the living room at Casa ML and the kintsugi-inspired marble table he designed with Salvatori in Luigina [Luigina is the largest living space at Casa Maria Luigia.] Another piece we couldn t imagine the house without is Paola Lenti s Gon circular copper table in deep red. We paired it with the iconic Breuer chairs that we hunted down in vintage markets across Italy. The mixture of the two shapes, textures and different design eras add energy to the room. We also work closely with Davide Groppi, the lighting designer.
LG: I try to feel what the space needs. Structure, whimsy, color, harmony, or energy. Of course, a hotel room needs to be functional, with all the small details that may make your stay easy. But function can become a prison with no play and no space for the imagination. I like to dream and be taken to a faraway place when I travel.
When my mother saw the book she reminded me that I rearranged the furniture in my bedroom constantly. I saved my babysitting money in middle school and bought a blue futon-like bed and picked out hallucinogenic wallpaper with puffy clouds and hung secondhand posters I found at garage sales. She didn t know what to think of me back then. Now it all makes sense.
What are some of your favorite recipes in the book?
MB: My favorite recipes are the savory and sweet combinations like the cotechino with zabaglione and sbrisolona cookie. I grew up with those flavors. To be able to share them with our guests, to see people enjoying those flavors—for breakfast!— is very satisfying. I love all of the Tola Dolza preparations, which often are a mix of savory and sweet, like the smoked beef short rib served with apricots, the baked ricotta served with honey and camomile, and the bitter orange sorbet and radicchio. Jessica s Tola Dolza recipes are continuing to evolve at the new restaurant on the property, Al Gatto Verde, and adding a refreshing interpretation of Emilian ingredients and traditions to the dialogue. After all, that is what writing and sharing recipes is all about—beginning a conversation with your palate and feeling the freedom to play, discover, invent, and maybe come upon something completely innovative in the meantime.
LG: My favorite recipes are the house sweets like the yogurt apple crumble and the tiramisu. My son Charlie loves them so much he calls me at work to see if there are any left that I can bring home. They are easy to make and having the individual portions means that you eat just the right amount. My second-favorite recipes are the house snacks. I am addicted to the poppy seed crackers with whipped ricotta and lemon oil. The spicy and parmigiano crackers too. It s great having a basic recipe that can be modified with variations. Besides, I ve never found crackers like these in any market, so when guests try them they are really surprised by the flavor, shape and consistency."
The creation of new traditions and ways of marking seasons as pass through the landscape was also a theme throughout the book–like the balsamic grape harvest at the Acetaia (where vinegar is made). What traditions and projects have you been working on lately?
JR: It’s been really fun for us to get here and say, ‘What are we going to make that’s really Casa Maria Luigia?’ We have Lara’s gardens right outside our back door with aromatic herbs—sweet ones, bitter ones. In Italy, there’s a tradition of bitters, amari, so we started bottling up a lot of the herbs and creating our own liquors and using them in desserts, and pre-desserts, and in sauce bases. It’s a way to collect and store the seasons. We also do this in other pantry items like preserved plums and cherry jam…
MB: Pine oils! Elderflower!
JR: It’s amazing to be creating new traditions for people in Modena—we made Sunday Brunch cool again!
LG: The first eight, nine, 100 years of Osteria Francescana, it was so hard to get the Italian public, the Modenese public, to not only support what we were doing, but come to the restaurant and order a tasting menu. Almost 30 years later, we just opened up a small restaurant on the property, Al Gatto Verde, and the first guests to book and try the tasting menu were all Modenese. We’ve been able to gain the trust, confidence, and curiosity of the Italian public, who don’t always want traditions to change. This is really exciting for us.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Laura Gilmore and Massimo Bottura will be in conversation at The 92nd Street Y in New York on December 11.