From Bologna Foam to Jimmy Kimmel: Meet Modernist Chef Massimo Bottura

Today, Yahoo Food celebrates the modernists—those chefs, researchers, and big thinkers pushing culinary boundaries and exploring new ways of cooking and using ingredients. What they do is part science, part art, and, seemingly, part magic.

Is America ready for modern Italian food? It will probably be a while before this country swaps spaghetti and meatballs for bologna foam and deconstructed lemon tarts, but if anyone could convince us, it would be Massimo Bottura. The Italian chef proves you can earn three Michelin stars and still have a sense of humor; he even held his own during a Jimmy Kimmel segment earlier this year (in which we learned Kimmel prefers to feed himself).

Bottura, who is based in Modena, Italy, visited the U.S. this fall as part of a tour to promote his cookbook, Never Trust a Skinny Italian Chef. The book is filled with recipes for the modernist dishes he has served to critical acclaim at his restaurant, Osteria Francescana. Yahoo Food caught up with Bottura ?when he stopped in Bellevue, Washington, to meet the team at the Modernist Cuisine headquarters. As you’ll see in the video above, it’s clear that charisma and creativity are part of Bottura’s recipe for success.

Bottura and Orangette blogger Molly Wizenberg. Photo: Chris Hoover / Modernist Cuisine LLC

For more on Massimo Bottura:
Lunch with Italy’s Most Famous Chef
A 16-Course Modernist Cuisine Meal
Bottura on Jimmy Kimmel

Would you trust a skinny Italian chef?

Never Trust a Skinny Chef is on sale now for $59.95. Photo: Stefano Graziani and Carlo Benvenuto/Phaidon