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Al Gatto Verde

Modena

Fine dining, all fired up

On the Pass

Jessica Rosval

Haute-cuisine hideaway: Surrounded by swaying cornfields, age-old oaks and row upon row of sunbathing grapevines, Casa Maria Luigia is an elegant 18th-century guesthouse owned by husband-and-wife duo Massimo Bottura (chef-owner of Osteria Francescana, among other restaurants) and Lara Gilmore (restaurateur and driving force behind the Bottura brand's hospitality and social projects). As might be expected of the couple who put Modena on the map, its restaurant is quite the charmer. Set within a converted outbuilding, Al Gatto Verde is smoulderingly handsome: inside, the walls are decorated with deep-green panelling (inspired by one of Bottura's vintage Ferraris) and the lights are kept low to evoke the warmth of a glowing hearth. Which is apt, really, considering the kitchen's preoccupation with fire.

Fire starter: Canadian chef de cuisine Jessica Rosval – named the winner of the Best Female Chef Award 2026, sponsored by Lexus – crafts dishes in wood ovens, over grills and above embers, with smoke and high heat the hallmarks of her cooking. The restaurant grew out of the Modena expression 'tòla dòlza' ('take it easy'), experienced in the languid, elemental Sunday lunches Rosval cooked in the hotel's early days; and here too, ingredients are patiently tended and transformed by flame. However, this is categorically not a barbecue restaurant.

Must-try dishes: A la carte highlights include salt-and-ash-crusted cod with vegetables and Béarnaise potato cream; a selection of smoked meats paired with 'burnt ends' bread; and sturgeon spaghetti with sturgeon broth, Oscietra caviar and lemon zabaione. The perfect blaze-dousing dessert? Rosval's homeward-looking Sugar Shack, a maple-syrup mousse crowned with Canadian maple taffy.

Telling tales: In 2026, the restaurant launched Fables, a tasting menu translating Italian folklore onto the plate. Current courses include The Three Oranges of Love – cured melon with mandarin vinegar, Tarocco orange oil and fermented kumquat kosho – and Pinocchio, a punchy dish of finocchiona salami, red wine and aged Tuscan pecorino. To really set the scene, each creation comes with its own specially designed story card – a charming touch that only adds to the cocooning atmosphere.

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