Dinner at Osteria Francescana
Managing to reserve a table at the legendary Osteria Francescana is nearly impossible. The restaurant only has a dozen tables, has held three Michelin stars since 2011, and was declared the best restaurant in the world in 2016 and 2018. It is almost always fully booked six months in advance. However, I got two reservations, cancelled one, and six months later enjoyed the best meal Chandni and I have ever eaten! This is how I got reservations to Osteria Francescana and how you can plan to eat there as well.
The Basic Info
Reservations at Osteria Francescana are made on their website for their two locations. The first is the original location in central Modena, while the other is at a bed and breakfast, Casa Maria Luigia, on the outskirts of southeastern Modena. Either way, you’re visiting the delicious city of Modena, you lucky, lucky you. Each location serves dishes created by head chef Massimo Bottura but there are subtle differences in the menus:
Note that reservations for Maria Luigia are made through their website (linked on Francescana’s reservation page). Remember, this is a bed and breakfast so you are expected to pay for a room. Before you balk at their €800 room price, remember you’re reading a post teaching you how to buy a €325 meal!
Reservations for the original location open six months ahead of time. However, they open booking for the entire month at once. For example, on October 2nd you can book a table for lunch or dinner on any day in April 2024 assuming they aren’t closed. Chances are that the day reservations open are the only day they’ll be available. That means you need to glue yourself to a computer and be ready to pick a day when they open at 10 a.m…central Italian time. That time change tricks some people! Unfortunately for us Americans, 10 in the morning in Italy is 3 in the morning US central standard time. You either need to stay awake all night, or wake up earlier than you probably ever wanted to because by breakfast time all their reservations will be filled. I know this from my experience.
My (Hectic) Experience
At 2:45 a.m. on March 1, 2023 I was starring at the clock on my computer. September reservations at Osteria Francescana opened in fifteen minutes and I was ready to click the trigger. Taylor Swift fans that bought pre-sale tickets to The Eras Tour can probably relate. Any table I got from September 1st through 4th would work, but Chandni and I had to leave Italy early on the 5th so I wasn’t keen on the 4th. With ten minutes remaining the rules for booking popped up. A guest could select a single reservation date. Their choice would be held for ten minutes as they input personal information and completed the reservation. That was great news for me because it told me even if I didn’t get a table right away there was a chance something may open 10 minutes later.
When 2:59 rolled around I promised not to let go of the mouse until I selected a date. I was sure that if I just OH MY GOD IT’S 3 A.M.! The screen flashed, the calendar’s formatting changed, I got distracted by the rearrangement, and then literally two seconds later every date had been selected. Every September date was fully chosen. I had missed… Staying up felt like such a waste until I remembered that people only had 10 minutes to complete their booking. So I waited. At 3:10 I watched what felt like digital whack-a-mole on their reservation calendar. Dates popped up in half second bursts from people that didn’t finish their booking. I couldn’t keep chasing flashing dates so I decided to do what every gamer has done at some point – I spammed the mouse! I kept clicking on September 4th at dinner because I noticed every date before had already flashed back. Sure enough, within ten seconds I had a confirmed selection! I filled in the info and we had our reservations! But what if I could get a better day ten minutes later…? There were no cancellation fees mentioned so I tried.
I waited ten minutes and did the exact same thing. I started spamming the mouse on September 3rd at dinner hoping that option would open. Using the same technique I got the same result – a confirmed reservation a few minutes later!
Now I had two reservations to one of the best restaurants in the world. I emailed the restaurant and cancelled my earlier September 4th reservation. Sure enough, they wiped that one, confirmed there was no fee, and we enjoyed the greatest dinner ever on September 3th, 2023.
The Dinner
The most common question we get is, “Was it worth the price”!? Yes, absolutely! Chandni is a vegetarian so they tailored a tasting course to her. Other fine dining restaurants have simply swapped the meat for truffle or tofu, but Francescana’s team created entirely new dishes. They put in the effort to create a unique vision for vegetarians that other diners wouldn’t get to experience. Having tried many of Chandni’s dinner courses, I can very confidently say that they were all as good or better than what I was served. The tasting courses we were served overwhelmingly succeeded in its mission to modernize Francescana’s classic menu. From their beginnings, Osteria Francescana’s claim to fame has been modernizing the classic Italian kitchen. Have we had more fun at a restaurant? Absolutely. Have we had a better meal? No way.
Tips for Your Osteria Francescana Dinner
If you don’t get a reservation when they become available, check as the day you’re interested in approaches. See those green dots on some dates in the photo? Those are open tables thanks to people cancelling.
Tables can open up last minute.
You must disclose that you’re a vegetarian at the time of booking or far in advance of your reservation. If you don’t, you may not be able to order the delicious vegetarian tasting menu.
Upon arrival a waiter will ask you if you want to order the tasting course menu or a la carte. A la carte has many items not featured in the tasting menu.
The champagne aperitif costs €30 a glass. They didn’t mention the price when they asked if we would like one, and we should have asked.
The breadsticks are “free” with dinner so feel free to eat as many as you’d like because they offer fresh ones.
Expect your dining experience to run three hours.
Remember we dined in September 2023 so all prices and booking procedures could have changed by the time you read this.
Chef Massimo is super nice and was happy to take a photo with us and shake my hand. We had a brief but fun conversation as he made his way around each table.
