The world's current top-ranked chef, Massimo Bottura, is coming to Australia in 2019 with a stage tour of four capital cities.

Bottura is one of the most respected chefs in the world. His restaurant, Osteria Francescana, in Modena, Italy last year took top honours in The World's Top 50 Best Restaurants list. The international culinary awards described it as "one of the very finest dining experiences in the world, combining nods to tradition with fierce modernity, philosophical conceptions with old-fashioned flavour, warmth with daring".

Situated in the Emilia-Romagna region, Italy's hub of protected DOP (protected designation of origin) and the birth place of seminal Italian ingredients such as balsamic vinegar, the restaurant is renowned for its Five Ages of Parmigiano Reggiano course, which celebrates the hard cheese through different textures and tastes.

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In the early years of his career, Bottura was accused of tampering with age-old Italian recipes. Now, he's won critics over with his modern, artful takes on North Italian cuisine. “Food has to be good, not just interesting ... But at the same time, cooking is an intellectual act. Your brain is the main ingredient," he told Broadsheet in 2014, while promoting his book Never Trust a Skinny Italian Chef.

Famously, when Modena was hit by an earthquake in 2012, damaging 360,000 wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano, Bottura created a slew of new recipes incorporating the cheese, in a bid to stoke demand for the damaged goods.

But if you've yet to nab a seat at his highly coveted, pocket-sized osteria, you'll likely recognise it from an episode of Aziz Ansari's Master of None TV show. Or you may recognise Bottura – and his impassioned stance on Italian food – from the first season of Netflix's Chef's Table.

Or, you'll just see the man himself in the flesh when he hits Australian shores in August 2019.

Register for pre-sale tickets here. General tickets go on sale April 3, 2019.

Tour dates
Perth
August 6, 2019 – Riverside Theatre

Sydney
August 8, 2019 – State Theatre

Melbourne
August 10, 2019 – Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (Plenary), South Wharf

Brisbane
August 13, 2019 – Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre (Great Hall), South Brisbane