Mario Batali

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Mario Batali

Born September 19, 1960 (1960-09-19) (age 47)
Seattle, Washington, United States
Cooking style Italian
Education Rutgers University
Le Cordon Bleu
Current Restaurant(s)
Television show(s)
Official Website

Mario Batali (b. September 19, 1960) is an Italian American chef, restaurateur, TV host and writer.

Contents

[edit] Personal History

Born in Yakima, 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.

Molto Italiano Book Cover
Molto Italiano Book Cover

[edit] 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,[1]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,[2] 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 has designed a line of wooden rolling pins, pepper grinders and salt grinders.[3]

The New York Post reported that Batali's contract with the Food Network would not be renewed, and that he would 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.[4] 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."[5] 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".[6]. 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".[7]

[edit] Television career

[edit] 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)

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] References

  1. ^ Johnson, Richard. "White Heat", The Times, 2007-08-05. 
  2. ^ List of restaurants
  3. ^ Books and Products: Vic Firth Mills
  4. ^ Keil, Braden. "Food Net Chef Mario Flames Out" (HTML), New York Post, 2007-09-05. Retrieved on 2007-09-17. 
  5. ^ Goldman, Russell. "Batali Chopped From Food Network Lineup" (HTML), ABC News, 2007-09-06. Retrieved on 2007-09-21. 
  6. ^ Spanish Food with Gwyneth and Mario (Chow.com)
  7. ^ Bourdain, Anthony. Interview with Louisa Chu. Tony Bourdain Would Pimp for Prada: The No Reservations star talks candidly. 2007-12-13. Retrieved on 2007-12-27.
  8. ^ Chef Mario Batali - Show Molto Mario - Show List A to Z - TV - Food Network
  9. ^ Food Network
  10. ^ Chef Mario Batali - Ciao America With Mario Batali - Show List A To Z - TV - Food Network
  11. ^ Food Network : Healthy Recipe Collections, Party Ideas, Quick & Easy Recipes
  12. ^ Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations: New Jersey - TV.com

[edit] External links

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