For Admission
Lara Gilmore was born in Washington, DC in 1968.
Before meeting her husband and chef, Massimo Bottura, she worked in New York at the avant-garde performance space The Kitchen and at Aperture Magazine. After a fateful encounter with the chef in 1993 in New York City, she moved to Modena and the couple opened Osteria Francescana two years later in 1995.
Lara and Massimo have a shared passion for contemporary art that has altered the look of the restaurant over the years and tainted the kitchen with ideas from outside the culinary forum. She has worked in the culinary world for more than 20 years as an integral part of the behind-the-scenes team of Osteria Francescana, ensuring its growth and working on international marketing and communications.
Together with Massimo, Lara launched « Food for Soul » as a way of redefining the role of traditional soup kitchens. Lara continues to dedicate her ideas and energy to making « Food for Soul » reach the wider community and involving professionals from all over the world in the mission of the non-profit organization. She also worked closely to Massimo to realize the cookbook « Bread is Gold » on over 50 chefs’ recipes and personal experiences at « Refettorio Ambrosiano », Food for Soul’s pilot project in Milan (Italy).
