I spent $320 at a 3-Michelin-star restaurant and $55 at its smaller sister bistro, and the pricier meal felt like a better deal

Italy's small, colorful town of Modena is known for many things, including its incredible food. And Massimo Bottura may have put Modena on the map more than any other chef.

The legendary chef — and pilot-episode focus on Netflix's "Chef's Table" — turned the traditional Italian food world on its head when he opened his restaurant Osteria Francescana.

The restaurant has since garnered him three Michelin stars and was named the best restaurant in the world in 2016 and 2018. It now sits in the coveted best of the best restaurants in the world category, with just seven other institutions.

Bottura opened Osteria Francescana in 1995. In 2015, Bottura expanded his restaurant empire by opening Franceschetta58 in 2011 as a more casual, neighborhood-bistro offering.

On a recent trip to Modena, I tried them both. Here's how it went.

As soon as I walked into the iconic doors of Osteria Francescana, the service was impeccable.

I was greeted by several members of the staff and led through a maze of small rooms to my table where, in unison, they pulled out our party's chairs and placed napkins on our laps.

The intimate setting almost forces you to whisper at your table and makes the food the focus.

The black, floral carpet that might seem cheesy in any other setting felt elegant against beige accents and pale-blue walls.

As I waited in anticipation for the 12-course tasting menu, our water glasses were constantly filled. Even the breadsticks at our table were delicious.

When the food did arrive — of course, placed in front of everyone at the table simultaneously — waiters described each element of the creative dishes with verve.

Botturo's menu is meant to make you think. Each course was whimsical, playing with our expectations and flipping them on their heads.

The dishes definitely forced me to question how a food should look or what a flavor should feel like texturally. For example, the Panzanella salad — an Italian bread salad — was served as a rich broth that featured all the flavors I know to be true of the dish in a form I would never expect.

Panettone, a sweet, bready dessert typical around Christmastime, was made into a summer appetizer, studded with morsels of candied pork.

The "steak course" actually featured smashed beans and charred greens topped with a silky bone gravy that reproduced all those meaty flavors one might expect.

To represent his childhood favorite — the crispy corner piece of the eggplant Parmesan — Bottura served a perfectly cooked risotto topped with a crispy Parmesan cracker and sprinkled with tomato and charred eggplant powder.

Another dish, simply called Think Green, was an ode to the local cows with a bright, herby granita and pale foam to represent what the animals eat and a tart yogurt sauce to represent their product.

For the show-stopping finale, the waiters apologized and said they forgot the caprese-salad course.

They then presented us with Bottura's iconic "Oops, I dropped the caprese."

The tomato was formed from white chocolate and filled with currant compote. A smoked-mozzarella cream and potent olive oil — flavors you'd expect from a caprese salad — balanced out the sweetness.

When the check arrived, the €320 menu (currently around $320 USD — it's a good time to spend in Europe) was not as easy to swallow as the food was.

This was the most I've ever individually spent on a meal — and it didn't even include alcohol. But, to me, it did not feel unwarranted for the one-of-a-kind experience.

But the price felt fair since this experience was way more than a meal. It felt more akin to seeing a superstar perform a concert up close or watching my favorite actor in an intimate show.

Bite after bite, I was left speechless or laughing at the ingenuity of the meal.

With dreams of my previous meal still dancing in my head, I visited Bottura's Franceschetta58 the following evening.

Sitting just outside of the cobblestone streets of Modena's town center, Franceschetta58 is the star chef's neighborhood-bistro offering.

The space seemed like someone was trying really hard after a trip from Ikea, with mismatched colorful chairs around the black tables and vintage plates hanging on the walls.

About 20 minutes after being seated, we were able to flag down a waiter to get some water. Leisurely service is certainly a Southern European cultural norm, but it was a far cry from the hyper-attentiveness at the Osteria.

Franceschetta58 offered an a la carte menu, a five-course tasting menu for $55, and a seven-course menu for $74.

With my tummy bulging and my wallet shrinking after the meal at Osteria Francescana, I opted for the five-course menu. The food was, unsurprisingly, delicious.

First, an aged pancetta, mostly made up of lustrous pork fat, arrived on a plate with a dollop of spicy apple mustard.

The mini burger — playfully served in a clamshell container — was smothered with a herby pesto.

Next, a small serving of perfectly toothsome pasta came in a silky cacciatore sauce.

Then, the Emilian favorite cochetino sausage was served skillfully wrapped in flaky puff pastry alongside the smoothest of pureed potatoes.

Dessert was a sweet and potently soaked Zuppa Ingles, Italy's response to the English trifle. It was an elegant-looking dessert layered with custard and sponge cake.

For an extra $30, I had each course served with an expertly paired Italian wine. Each wine certainly got the job done but none ever wowed me.

At Franceschetta58, I paid just under $100 total for food with my added wine pairings.

The American in me recognizes I'd be hard-pressed to find a place in the states where I could have five courses with wine pairings at that price, but this felt extravagant compared to the cost of my other meals in Modena.

The food at Franceschetta58 was certainly expertly made, but the price felt high because the service and setting were that of the more casual neighborhood hangout it was trying to emulate. (Plus, the need for a reservation months ahead of time ruined the illusion of a casual neighborhood favorite).

In comparison, receiving the much higher bill at Osteria Francescana was certainly sobering, but I never questioned the value of that meal.

The inaccessibility of luxurious food experiences is an important conversation to have, but in the meantime, I'll be saving up for another visit to Osteria Francescana. And I might skip Franceschetta58 next time I visit the lovely city of opera, Ferrari, and great food.