Everything about Mario Batali totally explained
Mario Batali (b.
September 19,
1960) is an
Italian American chef,
restaurateur,
TV host and
writer.
Personal History
Born in
Seattle, Washington, Batali attended
Rutgers University where he double majored in
Spanish Theatre and
Economics, graduating in 1982. He currently lives in
New York City with his wife
Susi Cahn (daughter of Miles and
Lillian Cahn, founders of Coach Farms) and two sons, Leo and Benno. He also owns a home in
Northport,
Michigan. His father is
Armandino Batali, owner of
Salumi in
Seattle.
Batali often wears a pair of orange brand
clogs, although these days he tends to be seen wearing
Crocs brand. They have become one of his trademarks, with a pair appearing on the back cover of his 2005 cookbook,
Molto Italiano and he himself can be seen wearing them in the front cover of his 2006 book
Mario Tailgates NASCAR Style. He is currently seen sporting orange Crocs in an ad campaign for his brand new restaurant "B&B" at
The Venetian in
Las Vegas, Nevada.
Batali is also one of the principal subjects of
Bill Buford's 2006 book,
Heat.
Professional career
During college, Batali started working as a
dishwasher at "Stuff Yer Face" restaurant in
New Brunswick, New Jersey. He quickly moved up from dishwasher to pizzaman. Batali went on to spend time as an assistant in the kitchens at the "Six Bells public house" in the
Kings Road,
Chelsea under
Marco Pierre White,the Tour d'Argent in Paris, the Moulin de Mougins in Provence, and the Waterside Inn, outside London. In 1985 he worked as a sous chef at the Four Seasons Clift in San Francisco before being promoted to helm the Four Seasons Biltmore Hotel's La Marina restaurant in Santa Barbara. At twenty-seven, he was the highest paid young chef in the company. In 1989, he resigned his post at the Four Seasons and moved to the Northern Italian village of Borgo Capanne to apprentice in the kitchen at La Volta, where he sought to master a traditional style of Italian cooking. He was inspired by the cooking of his grandmother, Leonetta Merlino.
In 1993 he opened "Po" with Steven Crane, but sold his interest in the restaurant in September 2000. In 1998, with his business partner,
Joseph Bastianich (son of
Lidia Bastianich), he went on to own the recent
Michelin star winning "Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca". They have since opened seven additional restaurants, Lupa (1999), Esca (2000), Otto Enoteca Pizzeria (2003), Casa Mono (2004), Bar Jamon (2004), Bistro Du Vent (2004, closed in 2006), Del Posto (2005), Enoteca San Marco (2007 in
Las Vegas, Nevada), and B&B Ristorante (2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada) and a shop named Italian Wine Merchants (1999).
Vic Firth, known for his production of quality
drum sticks, has also teamed up with Batali to create custom kitchen tools. Specifically he's designed a line of
wooden
rolling pins,
pepper grinders and salt grinders.
The
New York Post reported that Batali's contract with the
Food Network wouldn't be renewed, and that he'd no longer be featured on its
Iron Chef America series. The article further reported that Batali had decided not to make any further appearances on
Iron Chef America because the network had canceled his show,
Molto Mario, which had been airing on Food Network since 1997. A Food Network spokesperson confirmed to
ABC News that
Molto Mario, would no longer be aired, but said that "Mario Batali is still part of the Food Network family. Sometimes family members go off and do other things. We completely blessed his decision to go to PBS...He is still going to appear on
Iron Chef America." No new episodes of
Molto Mario have been filmed since 2004, but the network continued airing re-runs over the ensuing three years. Batali was absent on the season finale of
The Next Iron Chef.
Batali will be starting another show for
PBS with
Gwyneth Paltrow and Mark Bittman of
The New York Times featuring
Spanish cuisine which will be filmed starting in October 2007 and into 2008. The show is entitled "Spain... On the road again".. This will be the first of a series of shows that will be developed for PBS over the next several years. Batali is also in negotiations with Travel Channel to develop a series on
Italian cuisine and
culture with
Anthony Bourdain that reportedly will be an "exhaustive, definitive Italy series with the kind of production values that Planet Earth had".
Television career
Awards
Michelin Guide to New York City; One Star
Three Stars from The New York Times for "Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca"
"Best New Restaurant of 1998" from the James Beard Foundation for "Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca"
"Man of the Year" in GQ's chef category in 1999
D'Artagnan Cervena Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America in 2001
"Best Chef: New York City" from the James Beard Foundation in 2002
"All-Clad Cookware Outstanding Chef Award" from the James Beard Foundation in 2005 (national award)
Bibliography
Mario Batali Simple Italian Food: Recipes from My Two Villages (1998), ISBN 0-609-60300-0
Mario Batali Holiday Food : Family Recipes for the Most Festive Time of the Year (2000), ISBN 0-609-60774-X
Vino Italiano: The Regional Wines of Italy (contributor) (2002), ISBN 0-609-60848-7
The Babbo Cookbook (2002), ISBN 0-609-60775-8
The Artist's Palate (foreword) (2003), ISBN 0-7894-7768-8
Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home (2005), ISBN 0-06-073492-2
Mario Tailgates NASCAR Style (2006), ISBN 0-89204-846-8
Heat (2006), ISBN 978-1400034475Further Information
Get more info on 'Mario Batali'.
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