The McKim Medal Gala
One of the highlights of the season has just been unveiled at Villa Aurelia in Rome: the 2023 McKim Medal Gala is back, an award that every year recognizes excellence in a particular field. The proceeds from the event support the Academy Academy in Rome’s scholarships and in past years the award has been given to personalities such as Luca Guadagnino, Paola Antonelli, Roberto Benigni, Sir Antonio Pappano, Paolo Sorrentino, Carlo Petrini, Zaha Hadid, Renzo Piano, Cy Twombly, Umberto Eco, Franco Zeffirelli, Ennio Morricone, Miuccia Prada, Luigi Ontani, Riccardo Muti and Bernardo Bertolucci.
The 2023 Medal
This year’s medal, designed by artist Cy Twombly and crafted by BVLGARI, is awarded to the star chef Massimo Bottura, a true star of Italian cuisine and a world ambassador. Bottura, owner of Osteria Francescana, a three-star Michelin restaurant in the historic center of Modena, has been twice awarded as the best restaurant in the world by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. His Gucci Osteria in Los Angeles, on Rodeo Drive, is very popular with celebrities. With his wife Lara Gilmore he founded the Il Tortellante Foundation, a social project and therapeutic laboratory that deals with people on the autism spectrum, teaching them homemade pasta with local grandmothers.
The Motivation for the Victory
The motivation for the victory is explained by the President Margherita Marenghi Vaselli: «For the American Academy in Rome it is an honor to award the McKim Medal to Chef Massimo Bottura for his contribution to gastronomic culture and the search for sustainability. A Chef symbol of Italian creativity in the world, who through continuous research expresses the best the potential of food and the importance of not wasting our resources». The illustrious guests of the sixteenth edition – from Alessandro Preziosi to Isabella Ferrari – toasted to the Chef’s victory, in a breathtaking setting, a hymn to made in Italy in all its nuances.
