Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura is a series of Italian, contemporary restaurants, found in world cities with varied and different identities. Since February 2020, Gucci Osteria in Los Angeles has embodied the same values of high creativity, inspiration and inclusiveness as the House of Gucci. The restaurants share a culinary philosophy that rides the wave of the seasons with creativity, elegance, humour and sensuality, and from where they draw their inspiration. Capturing the youthful energy embodied in Gucci and its parallels with the philosophy of chef Massimo Bottura, they draw from the thread of legacy, always contemporary in its present and driving forward to the future. Massimo Bottura is an Italian chef, gastronome and entrepreneur. He owns Osteria Francescana, which has earned three Michelin stars and a green Michelin star. I learned about Massimo while watching Chef's Table, which is a Emmy-nominated series where you learn about culinary stars around the world who are redefining gourmet food with innovative dishes and tantalizing desserts. At this Beverly Hills location, Chef Mattia Agazzi is at the helm. From the three Michelin starred Cerea brothers in Bergamo, Joel Robuchon and Norbert Niederkofler to a magical encounter with Massimo Bottura and Karime Lopez at Gucci Osteria in Florence, Mattia Agazzi's path tends to naturally follow athletic heights of culinary excellence. The restaurant is gaudy downstairs. Giant, bold wallpaper prints, but when you're granted access to the Main Room, it's a different vibe. Red velvet seating and herringbone wood floors. The outdoor terrace has Italian marble mosaic floors and an antique wooden pulpit serving as the Osteria’s outdoor bar. Kaitee and I had reservations for lunch. You can opt for a set course meal, or you can pick and choose a la carte. Depending on what you're interested in ordering, the prixe fixe menu may be a better deal. The meal begins with a bread service, which offers three varieties of bread with Normandy butter and a whipped ricotta cheese spread. We had a basket of ciabatta with olives, a poppy seed-crusted sourdough, a lavash cracker and a rosemary bun. They were warm and enclosed in a linen that kept them fresh, which made the butter and cheese spread melt beautifully over top. These were absolutely delicious bites to whet my appetite. I think my favorite ended up being the the ciabatta with olives, and I love ricotta on everything. Let's begin on what Kaitee ordered and generously gave me a nibble of: "The City is in Bloom" - Japanese turnip, grilled enoki mushroom, celeriac dashi with a tableside pour. Light, beautiful. "You & Me in Capri" - Lemon ricotta raviolo, bottarga. Divine. "Patatine Fritte - Our Fries Don’t Speak French" - Roasted chicken salt, EVO mayo. Fine. Now, let's move onto mine. I opted for more classic dishes that I have heard of. "Risotto Camouflaged as Pizza" - Tomato, basil, stracciatella. Wonderful.

"On the menu, you'll find Agazzi's fabulous homage to Bottura's prank, the cheekily named Risotto Camouflaged as Pizza. "We wanted you to prepare a risotto that makes you think about pizza," said Agazzi. "How do we do it? Using the main ingredients of a classic pizza turned into a different form, to work as risotto. The burnt capers would bring you back the texture and taste of a typical pizza crust. The tomato water is the evolution of the tomato sauce spread over the stretched dough, while the basil cream is the final touch." The result, according to the chef, "tastes more like pizza than pizza itself," according to Mashed. Tortellini with Parmigiano Reggiano cream. Too much sauce for me, but simply tasty.

"When it arrives at the table, the first thing you notice is the creamy Parmigiano Reggiano sauce that pools in the grooves of the pasta. That sauce is made by patiently stirring a bubbling pot of Italy’s famous cheese, which is created to complement the real star of the dish. The tortellini are handmade every morning in Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura by Martina Fraccaroli who gleaned her tortellini shaping know-how from a group of women in Modena—where the dish was born. Now she deftly folds the fresh pasta in the restaurant’s kitchen every morning listening to rock music, before chef de cuisine Karime López and her team start lunch service. The form of tortellini has been likened to the shape of Botticelli’s Venus’ navel, Martina describes her tortellini for the Gucci Osteria as being ‘chubby’, bursting with the meat filling in order to deliver maximum taste for every bite. Tortellini from Gucci Osteria’s menu are seen through the lens of photographer, art director and artist Max Siedentopf," according to Gucci. Gifts from the chef came out in the form of dessert: Bignè, filled with raspberry-vanilla cream and topped with a white chocolate disk. Tropical passion fruit jelly. Both interesting ways to end the meal. Grade: A