What separates the elite group of the worlds' best chefs from the pack? Of course there is the innate talent, the hard work, the dedication, but what defines them is the need to break the mould, to not follow the pack and to be original. There are many chefs who try this and fail, but those who succeed can stand out. Massimo Bottura, of Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy, is one such chef.

Italy is a country that is very protective of their culinary traditions, to the extent that previously some smaller towns have banned foreign food and ethnic restaurants. Many don't appreciate challenging culinary tradition, but that is exactly what Bottura has done. Bottura wondered was the routine of producing the same dishes from one generation to the next restrictive and was there better to be had? Are these traditional dishes the best they can be? Are traditions doing justice to the local ingredients? Is culinary nostalgia stopping progress? These are questions that are asked in the kitchens of Osteria Francescana.  

The worst part of our recent meal in Osteria Francescana was having to choose between the two tasting menus. One, "Tradition in Evolution", takes traditional dishes and reinterprets them in the present day. The other menu, "Sensations" has dishes that  are slightly more experimental, not all based on on local traditional dishes, but still largely based in the region and the season. After much thought, this was the menu we went for, a choice of simple gluttony as it has more dishes on it. 

Bottura is an avant-garde, slightly eccentric, chef who takes inspiration from the region, his childhood and how influential artists interpret the world around them and how they present it to the viewer. His dishes are personal and have meaning to him, often sharing an experience or a moment in his life. However there would be no point presenting the diner with dishes that only mean something to the chef; the story and the sentiment has to come across to the diner and mostly this was the case. The food felt regional; despite being a unique interpretation it still felt we were eating the produce of Italy. This was demonstrated perfectly with dishes of: a light and elegant dish of moeche, a soft shell crab, with crunchy polenta; a great dish of squid, eggplant, tomato was beautifully fragranced with bergamot; crispy delicate red mullet held its own against a powerful Livornese sauce. The 'crunchy part of the lasagne', hand cut meat with an aerated bechamel and a thin crisp, is inspired by every young child in the region who, growing up, would try to take the crispy bits to from around the outside of the lasagne for themselves. 

The best dish of the meal, and one of the best dishes we ever had, called 'Abstract of asparagus, prosciutto and peas Tagliolini' was subtle, yet intense. Served in a light miso broth which intensified the flavour of the pea and asparagus and topped with truffle which gave it a fantastic earthiness. Despite being one of the smallest dishes on the meal, it provided one of those rare moments of gastronomic euphoria were you realise you are eating a dish that is perfect and it feels like a privilege. This dish alone is worth travelling to Modena for. 

This dish exemplified a clarity that is prevalent throughout a meal in Osteria Francescana. Each element in a dish stands by itself and is identifiable on the palate. Despite being in a restaurant that is using very modern techniques you don't feel like the kitchen is trying to show off.

The one dish that was a bit left field and felt a bit out of place in the a meal was one of a sort of Chinese Peking duck. It was delicious, but maybe an example of a case were the chefs inspiration might not easily come across to the diner.

Desserts were a bit hit and miss. 'Rice Cake' was excellent, textured and light with a refreshing citrus hit. Sadly the last course of the meal, chocolate ravioli and gold lentils, was the one dish that disappointed. It was heavy and left a very powerful and earthy lentil taste - not the best flavour to finish a meal with. The dish could nearly have been served during the savoury part of the meal.

The service was professional, attentive and knowledgeable and the dining room is spacious and relaxing and the pace of service was perfect.  Value wise, a meal in Osteria Francescana is certainly worth the money.

Osteria Francescana is a truly excellent restaurant and Massimo Buttora's food is definitely worth the trip to city of Modena. His cooking is clean, concise and displays purity. In a country where culinary heritage is sacrosanct, he manages to challenge traditional Italian food, but still remain very respectful to it.  On the whole his food conveys the region, the story and the sentiment that inspired the dish and that makes the food a little bit more special.

London is a city with many great restaurants and more opening each year. At the higher echelons of the city's food scene for more than a decade is Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea. Ramsay's flagship is a small fourteen table restaurant that has been treating diners with first class food and service since he opened it in 1998. We had been twice before, the last visit being just over two years ago, and both times it was a great experience with the food perfectly executed and the service flawless. 

However, on our last visit there was a feeling that the restaurant was at a point were it could start to get a bit stagnant and dated. The menu was not changing often and the food was at a point of starting to lose touch just a bit. At the start of last year, maybe fearing the same, Ramsay handed over more control of the restaurant to head chef Clare Smyth and she stepped up to become chef patron. The dining room got a new look and quickly you could see the menu starting to change. 

Our recent visit last month was our best meal yet in Restaurant Gordon Ramsay. Ramsay has had some of the best chefs in Britain through his kitchens. Many have gone on to their own success, but Clare Smyth, who became head chef in 2008 at the age of just 29, has stayed to lead the kitchen in Royal Hospital Road. With Ramsay stepping back from the restaurant to pursue television work, keeping Smyth was key to the sustained success of this restaurant as she is one of the finest chefs cooking anywhere at the moment.

Smyth's cooking style, like Ramsays, is very light, not relying on heavy use of butter or fats, but still packed with flavour. The starters on our lunch menu were perfect examples of this. Salt baked beetroot with smoked mackerel, horseradish and pink grapefruit was delicate, light, fragrant. A serving of 'potato salad' with a vacherin suace was quite simply superb - a subtle yet intense earthy flavour, perfectly textured.  A main dish of quail with foie gras with Jerusalem artichoke and a game consomme was executed perfectly, but the best main dish was a serving of rabbit loin, Bayonne ham, lentils and pickled mustard seeds. It had flavours of a sort of light cassoulet and the skill in the dish was balancing the subtle rabbit with the pungent mustard seeds. A dessert of custard tart with blood orange, lemon balm and mascarpone sorbet may sound simple, but it is far from it. The thinnest pastry encasing an airy, light and delicate custard complimented perfectly with the blood orange and the sorbet. 

The common theme through Smyth's food is perfectly executed, beautifully presented, food with a lightness of touch that few other chefs posses. She has managed to modernise and update the food, but still keeping an essence and identify of Royal Hospital Road.

We have eaten in several of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants and the service is always excellent. If anyone wants to learn about the art of service they should just visit Royal Hospital Road. The service during our meal had class, formality, knowledge, approachability, hospitality and warmth and this was without the brilliant Maître d' Jean-Claude Breton who was not working on this lunch service. 

The lunch menu in Restaurant Gordon Ramsay is excellent value for the standard of food being served. Unlike other restaurants who put less thought into their lunch menus, this is not the case here. A meal here will make you want to come back. When we plan our future restaurant visits to London it is very hard for us to leave out another trip to Restaurant Gordon Ramsay.