Restaurant in Modena, Italy
Book early. The fire programme justifies it.
Al Gatto Verde at Casa Maria Luigia is one of Modena's hardest reservations and one of its most rewarding — fire-driven contemporary cooking from chef Jessica Rosval, ranked #92 on the World's 50 Best and holding a Michelin star. Book three to four months out minimum. Best suited to special occasions and serious food travel at the €€€€ tier.
Al Gatto Verde is one of the harder reservations to secure in northern Italy right now, and that difficulty is not misplaced. Ranked #92 on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list in 2025 and holding a Michelin star since 2024, this fire-centred restaurant at the Maria Luigia country house has moved fast from respected opening to genuine destination. If you are planning a special occasion dinner in Modena, the booking window question answers itself: go at least three to four months out, and treat anything shorter as optimistic. Summer tables on the outdoor terrace, which the Michelin inspectors specifically flagged as a highlight when the weather holds, disappear faster than the indoor dining room.
Al Gatto Verde sits inside Casa Maria Luigia, the country house conceived by Massimo Bottura and Lara Gilmore on the outskirts of Modena. The physical space is important context for your booking decision: this is not a city-centre restaurant you drop into after a walk around the Duomo. It is a destination property that works leading when treated as an evening in itself, ideally as part of a stay at the hotel or at minimum a dedicated excursion. The dining room is intimate in scale, which compounds the scarcity problem above but also means the experience carries a level of attention that larger rooms in this price tier often cannot sustain. For a celebration dinner, an anniversary, or a serious business meal where environment reinforces the occasion, the setting is an asset. For a quick in-and-out dinner before a flight, it is the wrong choice.
On summer evenings, outdoor dining on the grounds shifts the feel of the meal considerably. The Michelin record notes it as enchanting when the weather cooperates. If you are booking between June and August, ask specifically about outdoor availability when you make the reservation — it is not guaranteed, and it changes the experience enough to be worth requesting.
The entire menu at Al Gatto Verde is built around wood-fire cooking, and this is the right framing for evaluating whether the €€€€ price point is justified for you. If you are coming expecting the quiet precision of a classical Italian tasting menu, this is not that. The kitchen uses fire as a primary flavour tool, and the dishes that have drawn attention from the 50 Best and Michelin panels reflect that: a reinterpretation of bouillabaisse among the starters, spaghetti with zabaglione of concentrated sturgeon broth and smoked caviar as a pasta course, and a dessert that references chef Jessica Rosval's Canadian background through tire à l'érable — a maple syrup mousse with cream and walnuts. These are not safe, crowd-pleasing dishes. They are opinionated cooking from a chef with a clear point of view, and if that aligns with your expectations, the price holds up.
Rosval has been instrumental in shaping Al Gatto Verde's identity as a restaurant distinct from Osteria Francescana while remaining within the Bottura-Gilmore orbit. The fire focus, the Canadian influences surfacing in the dessert course, and the country-house format combine into something that does not have a direct equivalent in the Modena dining scene.
Specific wine list details are not available in the current record, but the context is relevant to your decision. Operating within the Maria Luigia property, with a kitchen programme at this price tier and with this level of international recognition, the expectation would be a list weighted toward Emilia-Romagna producers alongside broader Italian depth , Lambrusco in serious form rather than the export-market version, alongside selections that can handle fire-driven cooking with high smoke and fat components. If wine pairing is central to your occasion rather than secondary to it, contact the restaurant directly before booking to confirm pairing availability and pricing. At €€€€ in this context, a paired menu is likely available, but structure and pricing should be confirmed in advance rather than assumed. For comparison, Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, which runs one of Italy's most celebrated wine programmes, sets a benchmark for what Italian fine dining wine lists can look like at the top tier , Al Gatto Verde is a different proposition, younger and fire-focused rather than cellar-focused, but it is operating in the same conversation.
Modena punches well above its size for serious dining. If you are planning a food-focused trip and weighing multiple bookings, see our full Modena restaurants guide for the complete picture, and check the Modena hotels guide if you are considering a stay near the Maria Luigia property. For bars and wine experiences in the region, the Modena bars guide and Modena wineries guide cover the broader itinerary context. The Modena experiences guide is worth consulting if you are building a multi-day itinerary around the city.
For comparison elsewhere in Italy at a similar tier, Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler in Brunico shares the fire and local-produce ethos. Le Calandre in Rubano and Piazza Duomo in Alba operate at a comparable level of ambition. Dal Pescatore in Runate offers a useful point of contrast as a long-established Michelin three-star with a more classical Italian register. Internationally, the fire-driven precision of Al Gatto Verde invites comparison with Le Bernardin in New York City for its single-ingredient focus, and Atomix in New York City for the way a personal culinary background shapes a tasting menu format. Enrico Bartolini in Milan and Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence round out the Italian fine dining context at the top tier.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al Gatto Verde | Woodfire Cooking, Contemporary | Inside Maria Luigia, the welcoming country house envisioned by Massimo Bottura and his wife Lara Gilmore to host a cosmopolitan clientele, everything at Al Gatto Verde revolves around the fire, the true protagonist of most of the flavors on the menu. Here's what the inspectors particularly enjoyed: among the appetizers, an extraordinary reinterpretation of bouillabaisse; among the courses, spaghetti with zabaglione of concentrated sturgeon broth and smoked caviar; and finally, among the desserts, offering a culinary journey to Canada, the home country of chef Jessica Rosval, the "tire à l'érable" (maple syrup mousse and cream, walnuts). On summer evenings, if the weather permits, dining outdoors is enchanting.; Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in Europe Ranked #236 (2025); World's 50 Best Best Restaurants #92 (2025); Inside Maria Luigia, the welcoming country house envisioned by Massimo Bottura and his wife Lara Gilmore to host a cosmopolitan clientele, everything at Al Gatto Verde revolves around the fire, the true protagonist of most of the flavors on the menu. Here's what the inspectors particularly enjoyed: among the appetizers, an extraordinary reinterpretation of bouillabaisse; among the courses, spaghetti with zabaglione of concentrated sturgeon broth and smoked caviar; and finally, among the desserts, offering a culinary journey to Canada, the home country of chef Jessica Rosval, the "tire à l'érable" (maple syrup mousse and cream, walnuts). On summer evenings, if the weather permits, dining outdoors is enchanting.; Chef: Jessica Rosval document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function() { var el = document.getElementById("Achievements_chefs"); if (el && el.parentNode) { el.parentNode.removeChild(el); } });; Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in Europe Ranked #346 (2024); Michelin 1 Star (2024) | Near Impossible | — |
| Osteria Francescana | Progressive Italian, Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Hosteria Giusti | Emilian Trattoria, Emilian | Unknown | — | |
| L'Erba del Re | Creative | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| Casa Maria Luigia | Progressive Italian | Unknown | — | |
| Franceschetta 58 | Emilian | Unknown | — |
A quick look at how Al Gatto Verde measures up.
Al Gatto Verde is a full sit-down restaurant inside Casa Maria Luigia, not a bar-dining concept. There is no documented bar counter service where you can drop in for a few dishes. If you want a more casual entry point into the Bottura-Gilmore world, Franceschetta 58 in Modena operates with a less formal format.
At €€€€, the case for booking rests on three things: a Michelin star earned in 2024, a #92 ranking on the World's 50 Best in 2025, and a menu built entirely around wood-fire cooking rather than the standard tasting-menu formula. If you want contemporary fine dining anchored to a clear technique rather than prestige for its own sake, the price holds up. If you are comparing value against Osteria Francescana at a similar or higher spend, Al Gatto Verde offers a more accessible reservation and a distinct identity around fire.
Dinner is the stronger choice, particularly in summer when outdoor dining on the Casa Maria Luigia grounds is possible, weather permitting — a detail the Michelin inspectors noted specifically. Lunch is a practical option if you are building a full Modena food day, but it lacks the setting advantage that makes an evening booking here distinctly different from a restaurant-only meal.
Book at least six to eight weeks out, and further ahead for weekend dinners in summer. Al Gatto Verde reached #92 on the World's 50 Best in 2025, which has materially increased demand. The restaurant sits inside a small country house property, which limits covers and makes last-minute availability unlikely. Do not assume proximity to Modena city centre makes walk-ins viable — it does not.
Specific dietary policy is not documented in the available record, so confirm directly when booking. What is relevant to the decision: the menu is heavily built around wood-fire technique, including fish preparations and meat, so a fully plant-based or pescatarian request would require advance notice to get the kitchen's honest assessment of what they can offer.
Yes, if wood-fire cooking as a serious methodology interests you. The Michelin inspectors called out specific dishes — a reinterpretation of bouillabaisse, spaghetti with sturgeon broth zabaglione and smoked caviar, and a Canadian-inflected maple dessert — as evidence that chef Jessica Rosval is running a coherent, personal programme rather than a generic tasting format. At €€€€, you are paying for that specificity. If you want a more flexible or lower-commitment format in Modena, L'Erba del Re operates at a lower price point.
Yes, and the setting strengthens the case considerably. Dining inside Casa Maria Luigia, a country house property created by Massimo Bottura and Lara Gilmore, gives the occasion a physical context that a city-centre restaurant cannot replicate. Summer evening bookings with outdoor dining add to that. For a milestone dinner in the Emilia-Romagna region, this is among the stronger options at the €€€€ tier.
Location
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