Massimo Bottura to host fire-cooking event Firecat at Gatto Verde with top chefs and pizza masters

Chefs and pizza makers from Europe, Asia and North America will gather in the countryside outside Modena on 4^th and 5^th October for Firecat, a two-day event dedicated to cooking with fire. The festival is held at Casa Maria Luigia, the hotel run by Massimo Bottura and Lara Gilmore, with chef Jessica Rosval’s restaurant Al Gatto Verde at its centre. Previously known as Identità di Fuoco, Firecat is organised by the Francescana Family group and focuses on wood ovens, smoke, grills and embers.

The first day, 4^th October, opens with a pizza and Dom Pérignon aperitivo, for which Anthony Mangieri of Una Pizza Napoletana in New York, Michele Pascarella of Napoli on the Road in London and Roberto Davanzo of BOB Alchimia a Spicchi in Montepaone fire up the ovens. Rosval then cooks dinner alongside Himanshu Saini of Trèsind Studio in Dubai, Daniel Hadida of Restaurant Pearl Morissette in Ontario, Alberto Gipponi of Dina and Nicolai Nørregaard of Kadeau.

On 5^th October the programme begins with a talk titled Whirlpool: Innovation for the Kitchen, in which the appliance maker discusses kitchen technology with Bottura. A lunch with Château d’Yquem follows. Rosval’s menu will be paired with four vintages of the Sauternes in a vertical tasting, alongside images and accounts of the 2026 harvest.

In the early evening, Massimo Laveglia of L’Industrie Pizzeria in New York, Michele Di Già of Osteria Francescana and Francesco Capece of Confine lead a second pizza and Dom Pérignon aperitivo. The closing dinner brings Rosval together with Johnson Ebenezer of Farmlore in Bangalore, Takahiko Kondo of Gucci Osteria Firenze, Albert Adrià of Enigma and Norbert Niederkofler of Atelier Moessmer.

Both dinners will feature truffles from Appennino Food Group and a wine pairing that includes Château d’Yquem. They will also include a cocktail created by Agostino Perrone and Giorgio Bargiani of The Connaught Bar in London.

An after-party on the second night moves the focus from the dining room to more informal food. Xinge Liu of Il Gusto di Xinge will cook there, along with Johan Fritzell and Johan Åkerberg of Swedish barbecue team Holy Smoke BBQ and Ciccio Vitiello of Cambia-Menti in Caserta. Doina Paulesco, pastry chef at Osteria Francescana, completes the line-up, and the group will serve both sweet and savoury dishes.

Casa Maria Luigia opened in 2019, and Al Gatto Verde, which sits among the vineyards and barrels of the estate’s Acetaia, followed in 2023, later earning a Michelin star and a Michelin Green Star.

Food Desk

Firecat takes place on 4^th and 5^th October at Casa Maria Luigia, Stradello Bonaghino 56, Modena, Italy.