Massimo Bottura And Gucci In Tokyo: Gucci Osteria Opens 2021

Gucci has unveiled plans to bring its Gucci Osteria restaurant concept, created in collaboration with celebrity chef Massimo Bottura, to Tokyo later this year. While the exact date has yet to be announced, the restaurant will sit atop the Gucci Namiki flagship store, which is scheduled to open on April 29 in the Japanese capital's tony Ginza district. 

Bottura is of course widely known as the chef-proprietor behind Osteria Francescana, the top-ranked restaurant in the world, and has already developed two other Gucci Osterias—the first opened in Florence's Gucci Garden in early 2018 and was awarded its first Michelin star in the 2020 edition of the Michelin Guide, while the second is situated in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles and has been open for just over a year.

The menu will be designed by Bottura and Karime Lòpez, head chef of Gucci Osteria in Florence and alum of Noma, Mugaritz and Puyol. It is expected to continue the common theme of celebrating "[the] varied and unique identity" of its locale, "while sharing a culinary philosophy that rides the wave of the seasons with creativity, elegance, playfulness and sensuality", according to the company's press release. 

Gucci Osteria Tokyo won't be the first time the concept has touched down in Asia. In 2019, Bottura and Lopez headed a 26-day-long pop-up at The Arts House in Singapore, where dishes on the Florentine menu were paired with one-off, Asian-inspired creations.

Bottura himself has kept busy throughout pandemic-induced restaurant shutdowns by launching a cooking show on Instagram called Kitchen Quarantine, as well as expanding his Food for Soul non-profit organisations by opening a community kitchen, or refettorio, in Mérida, Mexico.

Gucci Namiki, 6-6-12 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan