Two days ago, a lucky few were invited to an ultra-fancy dinner hosted by Condé Nast Traveller at The Four Seasons in Mumbai. But before you dismiss this as just another dinner, I just want to say two words – Massimo Bottura. Condé Nast Traveller and Nirav Modi co-hosted the first of the Hot Tables culinary series. The food-obsessed collective of Mumbai that included chefs like Kelvin Cheung, Pooja Dhingra, and Thomas Zacharias as well as Bollywood superstars like Sonam Kapoor had the rare opportunity to dine on a specially curated menu by one of the best chefs in the world on his maiden trip to India.
To put this in perspective, Osteria Francescana, his restaurant in Modena, Italy has been awarded three-Michelin stars has been listed in the top 5 of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards since 2010. It was ranked number 1 in 2016 and number 2 in 2015 and 2017. If he looks familiar to you, it’s also probably because he was featured in an episode of the Netflix documentary, Chef’s Table. He has always said that his love for food came from his hometown and his grandmother at whose feet he had his first culinary experiences, and though his food is contemporary, his flavours are rooted deeply in tradition.
For many this was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience not for anything else but the fact that you have to wait for months on end for a reservation at Massimo’s restaurant. So, the fact that Divia Thani and Nirav Modi made this happen is truly amazing!