Osteria Francescana, Modena

I made the reservation for Osteria Francescana eleven months in advance and changed my entire Italian itinerary around the date. Massimo Bottura's three-Michelin-star restaurant in Modena seats 28 people in a space that feels like a private art collection — major works by Hirst and Cattelan hang between the tables as though you've wandered into a gallery that happens to serve dinner. The five ages of Parmigiano Reggiano — a single ingredient in five textures and temperatures simultaneously — is the most celebrated dish and deserves every word written about it: foam, soufflé, wafer, cream, and crisp, in five small vessels. I am Japanese, and I recognised immediately in Bottura's cooking the same philosophy that drives great kaiseki: absolute mastery of one ingredient, no decoration for its own sake. The Oops! I Dropped the Lemon Tart — a deliberately broken dessert — is performance art. Dinner is €370pp without wine. I would fly to Modena for this alone.