Massimo Bottura's Iconic Lemon Tart Is Broken On Purpose

When Massimo Bottura opened his restaurant, Osteria Francescana, in Modena, Italy, he created quite an uproar. On the positive side, it has garnered three coveted Michelin stars and won the title of World's Best Restaurant twice. But the accomplished chef was also accused of taking Italian cuisine into an avant-garde world that many proud Italians wanted no part of, instead preferring to keep their centuries-old standards and traditions intact. Either way, Osteria Francescana continues to be wildly successful due to its stunning dishes, some of which are considered iconic like "Memory of a Mortadella Sandwich" and "Oops! I Dropped the Lemon Tart."

The lemon tart, indeed, looks like it was dropped. Splattered and broken, the dessert arrives looking like a piece of contemporary art. Once upon a time, Bottura's lemon tart wasn't so shattered — in fact, it was originally intended to look like a beautiful, perfect individual dessert tart. But one night when his pastry chef accidentally dropped one of the final two tarts to be served, the fate of the tart was changed forever. From that day forward, the same care and precision used in all the other dishes at the restaurant would continue to go into the tart: perfect gelato, pristine zabaglione, flawless pastry crust. And it would all be broken.

Bottura explains in a YouTube video that the accident happened at the hands of his then-pastry chef, Takahiko "Taka" Kondo, who eventually became sous chef. In 2012, Taka dropped a portion of lemon tart, leaving half of it on the plate and the other half on the counter. Devastated by this mistake that may as well have been a tragedy in Taka's eyes, Bottura quickly reassured him, "Taka, it's so beautiful, don't you see? ... This is just perfect." Proclaiming what he saw as "so beautiful," Bottura rallied; he took all the elements of the tart and rebuilt the accident on another plate.

It was renamed "Oops! I Dropped the Lemon Tart," and it is presented on a plate that appears broken (but it's not). Splashes of yellow zabaglione create the base and lemongrass gelato is artfully placed on top. Everything is topped with a round circle of baked pastry, which is intentionally broken while more zabaglione is spooned over, along with an array of colorful garnishes. Sure enough, it looks like a lemon tart was accidentally splattered on the plate, but with its name and reputation, diners know it looks exactly how it's supposed to.

In the YouTube video, when Bottura waxes poetic, saying, "In your life, the most important thing is to leave free space for poetry," this is exactly what he was talking about. He professes the importance of learning from your mistakes and, essentially, making something beautiful out of them.

"Oops! I Dropped the Lemon Tart" at Osteria Francescana is much more than a simple lemon tart. Even though it looks broken, every element on the plate is intentional, and local whenever possible. Bottura uses bergamot from Calabria, lemons from Sorrento, and regional almonds and capers in the dish. In a recipe shared by the BBC for the dessert, you can see that it is made up of several elements: a lemongrass gelato that includes both lemongrass and fresh lemon, pastry crust containing a number of warm and unexpected spices, mint sauce garnish made from fresh peppermint leaves, a zabaglione with limoncello, and garnishes that include ginger, capers, and lemon powder.

Recreating classic dishes is nothing new to Bottura, in fact, the concept is seen in many — if not all — of the dishes he puts together. But creating a memorable dish on the fly from an accident is not something every chef can do. Others might likely scream, shout, and maybe even fire the offender, but, instead, this kitchen "oops" moment forever altered the dessert menu at one of the best restaurants on the planet.