Mario Batali
Encyclopedia
Mario Batali is an America
n chef
, writer
, restaurateur
and media personality. In addition to his classical culinary training, he is an expert on the history and culture of Italian cuisine
, including regional and local variations. Batali co-owns restaurants in New York City
, Las Vegas
, Los Angeles
, and Singapore
. Batali's signature style includes shorts and orange Crocs
.
, the son of Marilyn and Armandino Batali. His family moved to Yakima, Washington
shortly thereafter. When Batali was about 8, his family moved back to Seattle when his father got a job as an engineer for Boeing
. His father worked for Boeing
for thirty years, then, after retirement, opened a meat-curing shop, Salumi
, in Seattle.
He is of Italian
ancestry on his father's side, and French Canadian
ancestry on his mother's side.
According to research done by Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (of Harvard University, in 2010 for the PBS series Faces of America), his maternal great-great grandparents opened an Italian foods store in 1903. Batali's family roots are found almost entirely in the Western United States
. Mario’s great-great-grandfather left Italy in 1899, going to Butte, Montana
to work in the copper mines, but later moved west to settle in Seattle.
Mario moved to Spain
with his family in 1975 and returned to the U.S. in 1978 to attend Rutgers University
, where he majored in Spanish Language
, Theatre
and Economics
, and graduated in 1982. He later went to attend Le Cordon Bleu
, though he left because he found the pace too slow and felt that the best way for him to learn was in a professional kitchen. Mario currently lives in New York City
with his wife Susi Cahn (of Coach Dairy Goat Farm) and two sons, Leo and Benno. He also owns homes in Northport
, Michigan
, and Red Hook, New York
.
Batali is one of the principal subjects of Bill Buford
's 2006 book, Heat. He is an advocate for same-sex marriage.
In an interview, when he was asked what dish his mother made for him that he enjoyed the most, Mario stated that it was Mock Chicken Legs, which are made of ground pork and veal and then shaped around a Popsicle stick and baked. http://www.delish.com/cooking-shows/food-tv/celeb-chef-mario-batali
at "Stuff Yer Face" restaurant in New Brunswick, New Jersey
, quickly moving up to stromboli
and pizza maker. Batali went on to serve as an assistant in the kitchens at the "Six Bells" public house
in the Kings Road
, Chelsea
, under Marco Pierre White
, La Tour d'Argent in Paris
, 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, Batali was the highest paid young chef in the company. In 1989 he resigned 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 inspired by his grandmother, Leonetta Merlino.
In 1993 Batali opened "Po". In 1998, with business partner Joseph Bastianich
(son of Lidia Bastianich
), he went on to start "Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca". The pair 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
), B&B Ristorante (2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada), Tarry Lodge in Port Chester, NY, CarneVino (2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada), Tarry Lodge in Westport, CT (2011), and a shop named Italian Wine Merchants (1999) which is no longer under Batali's ownership.
The New York Post
reported in September 2007 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 although Batali had not initially been dismissed from Iron Chef America, he decided not to make any further appearances on the show after the network made the decision to cancel his cooking 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, with reruns currently airing first on Fine Living and currently on Fine Living's replacement channel Cooking. Batali was absent on the season finalé of The Next Iron Chef
, but he appeared twice during Iron Chef America's 2008 season, and his likeness has been licensed to appear in the Nintendo game Iron Chef America: Supreme Cuisine
. As of episodes airing in 2010, Batali's name and likeness do not appear in the show's opening credits.
Batali is featured in PBS’s
show Spain... on the road Again
with Gwyneth Paltrow
, Mark Bittman
(of The New York Times
) and Claudia Bassols
(a Spanish actress) featuring Spanish cuisine
. The 13-episode series was filmed from October 2007 into early 2008. 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".
Batali teamed up with premium drum stick producer Vic Firth
to create custom kitchen tools. Together they designed a line of wood
en rolling pin
s, pepper grinder
s and salt grinders.
In 2009, Batali announced the creation of the Mario Batali Foundation "to educate, empower and encourage children". The foundation is an event-driven fundraiser for children’s disease research, children’s hunger relief, and literacy programs.
Batali has been critical of fellow international chef Gordon Ramsay
, calling his cooking styles dated and boring. Although the New York Post reported, in 2009, of a feud between Ramsay and Batali, Batali has stated, "We really don't even know each other.... I'd love to hang out with him."
In 2009 Batali made his film debut in Wes Anderson
's Fantastic Mr. Fox
.
Batali recently lost 45 pounds, hoping to shed about 80 pounds total. Batali said he decided to lose weight after he saw a picture of himself. He counts on light exercise and portion control to lose the weight. Batali said, "It’s really about calorie intake and calorie outtake. You just have to eat enough to get you to the next meal."
Mario is featured also in the MMORPG
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
: in Stormwind City there is the NPC
Bario Matalli (almost Mario Batali with the initial letters swapped) which is regarded as "Sous Chef" and feature the highest-level cooking recipes available.
, a non-profit organization which provides a daily meal to students of township schools in Soweto
of South Africa
.
on November 8 , 2011, Batali stated "The way the bankers have toppled the way money is distributed – and taken most of it into their own hands – is as good as Stalin or Hitler and the evil guys." Following Batali's comments, users of Bloomberg's DINE
function posted criticism of Batali, and called for a boycott of Batali's restaurant. Batali later apologized, stating "It was never my intention to equate our banking industry with Hitler and Stalin, two of the most evil, brutal dictators in modern history."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
n chef
Chef
A chef is a person who cooks professionally for other people. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who cooks for a living, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation.-Etymology:The word "chef" is borrowed ...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, restaurateur
Restaurateur
A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of the restaurant business.-Etymology:The word...
and media personality. In addition to his classical culinary training, he is an expert on the history and culture of Italian cuisine
Italian cuisine
Italian cuisine has developed through centuries of social and political changes, with roots as far back as the 4th century BCE. Italian cuisine in itself takes heavy influences, including Etruscan, ancient Greek, ancient Roman, Byzantine, Jewish and Arab cuisines...
, including regional and local variations. Batali co-owns restaurants in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. Batali's signature style includes shorts and orange Crocs
Crocs
Crocs, Inc. is a shoe manufacturer founded by 3 friends - Scott Seamans, Lyndon "Duke" Hanson, and George Boedecker, Jr. - to produce and distribute a foam clog design acquired from a Quebec company called Foam Creations. The shoe had originally been developed as a spa shoe. The first model...
.
Personal life
Batali was born in Seattle, WashingtonSeattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, the son of Marilyn and Armandino Batali. His family moved to Yakima, Washington
Yakima, Washington
Yakima is an American city southeast of Mount Rainier National Park and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, United States, and the eighth largest city by population in the state itself. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 91,196 and a metropolitan population of...
shortly thereafter. When Batali was about 8, his family moved back to Seattle when his father got a job as an engineer for Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
. His father worked for Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
for thirty years, then, after retirement, opened a meat-curing shop, Salumi
Salumi (restaurant)
Salumi is a salumeria and restaurant in the Pioneer Square neighborhood of downtown Seattle, Washington.Salumi was founded by Armandino Batali, the father of New York chef Mario Batali, and is now run as a family business with his wife, daughter, and son-in-law owning and operating.In the episode...
, in Seattle.
He is of Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
ancestry on his father's side, and French Canadian
French Canadian
French Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...
ancestry on his mother's side.
According to research done by Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (of Harvard University, in 2010 for the PBS series Faces of America), his maternal great-great grandparents opened an Italian foods store in 1903. Batali's family roots are found almost entirely in the Western United States
Western United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
. Mario’s great-great-grandfather left Italy in 1899, going to Butte, Montana
Butte, Montana
Butte is a city in Montana and the county seat of Silver Bow County, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. As of the 2010 census, Butte's population was 34,200...
to work in the copper mines, but later moved west to settle in Seattle.
Mario moved to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
with his family in 1975 and returned to the U.S. in 1978 to attend Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
, where he majored in Spanish Language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, Theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
and Economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
, and graduated in 1982. He later went to attend Le Cordon Bleu
Le Cordon Bleu
Le Cordon Bleu is the world's largest hospitality education institution, with 35 schools on five continents serving 20,000 students annually. Its primary education focus is on hospitality management and the culinary arts...
, though he left because he found the pace too slow and felt that the best way for him to learn was in a professional kitchen. Mario currently lives in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
with his wife Susi Cahn (of Coach Dairy Goat Farm) and two sons, Leo and Benno. He also owns homes in Northport
Northport, Michigan
Northport is a village in Leelanau Township, Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 648 at the 2000 census. When Leelanau County was formed in 1863, Northport served as the first county seat from 1863 to 1883.-Geography:...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, and Red Hook, New York
Red Hook, New York
Red Hook is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was reported to be 11,319 during the 2010 census. The name is supposedly derived from the red foliage on trees on a small strip of land on the Hudson River. The town contains two villages; the village of Red Hook and the...
.
Batali is one of the principal subjects of Bill Buford
Bill Buford
Bill Buford is an American author and journalist. Buford is the author of the books Among the Thugs and Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany....
's 2006 book, Heat. He is an advocate for same-sex marriage.
In an interview, when he was asked what dish his mother made for him that he enjoyed the most, Mario stated that it was Mock Chicken Legs, which are made of ground pork and veal and then shaped around a Popsicle stick and baked. http://www.delish.com/cooking-shows/food-tv/celeb-chef-mario-batali
Professional career
During college Batali worked as a dishwasherDishwashing
Dish-washing is the process of cleaning cooking utensils, dishes, cutlery and other items. This is either achieved by hand in a sink or using dishwasher and may take place in a kitchen, utility room, scullery or elsewhere...
at "Stuff Yer Face" restaurant in New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, USA. It is the county seat and the home of Rutgers University. The city is located on the Northeast Corridor rail line, southwest of Manhattan, on the southern bank of the Raritan River. At the 2010 United States Census, the population of...
, quickly moving up to stromboli
Stromboli (food)
Stromboli is a type of turnover filled with various cheeses, typically mozzarella, Italian meats such as salami, capicola and bresaola or vegetables...
and pizza maker. Batali went on to serve as an assistant in the kitchens at the "Six Bells" public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
in the Kings Road
Kings Road
King's Road or Kings Road, known popularly as The King's Road or The KR, is a major, well-known street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both in west London, England...
, Chelsea
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
, under Marco Pierre White
Marco Pierre White
Marco Pierre White is a British celebrity chef, restaurateur and television personality. He is noted for his contributions to contemporary international cuisine, and his exceptional culinary skills....
, La Tour d'Argent in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Moulin de Mougins in Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
, and the Waterside Inn, outside London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. 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
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
. At twenty-seven, Batali was the highest paid young chef in the company. In 1989 he resigned 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 inspired by his grandmother, Leonetta Merlino.
In 1993 Batali opened "Po". In 1998, with business partner Joseph Bastianich
Joseph Bastianich
Joseph "Joe" Bastianich is a restaurateur and vineyard owner. He is also a judge on the competitive cooking shows, MasterChef and MasterChef Italy.-Early life and education:...
(son of Lidia Bastianich
Lidia Bastianich
Lidia Matticchio Bastianich is an American chef, author, and restaurateur....
), he went on to start "Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca". The pair 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
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
), B&B Ristorante (2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada), Tarry Lodge in Port Chester, NY, CarneVino (2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada), Tarry Lodge in Westport, CT (2011), and a shop named Italian Wine Merchants (1999) which is no longer under Batali's ownership.
The New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
reported in September 2007 that Batali’s contract with the Food Network
Food Network
Food Network is a television specialty channel that airs both one-time and recurring programs about food and cooking. Scripps Networks Interactive owns 70 percent of the network, with Tribune Company controlling the remaining 30 percent....
would not be renewed, and that he would no longer be featured on its Iron Chef America
Iron Chef America
Iron Chef America: The Series is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's Iron Chef, and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed Iron Chef USA. The show is produced by Food Network, which also carried a dubbed version of the original Iron Chef. Like the...
series. The article further reported that although Batali had not initially been dismissed from Iron Chef America, he decided not to make any further appearances on the show after the network made the decision to cancel his cooking show, Molto Mario, which had been airing on Food Network since 1997. A Food Network spokesperson confirmed to ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
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, with reruns currently airing first on Fine Living and currently on Fine Living's replacement channel Cooking. Batali was absent on the season finalé of The Next Iron Chef
The Next Iron Chef
The Next Iron Chef, is a limited-run series on the Food Network now in its fourth season. Each season is a stand-alone competition to select a chef to be designated an Iron Chef, who will appear on the Food Network program Iron Chef America....
, but he appeared twice during Iron Chef America's 2008 season, and his likeness has been licensed to appear in the Nintendo game Iron Chef America: Supreme Cuisine
Iron Chef America: Supreme Cuisine
Iron Chef America: Supreme Cuisine is a video game for the Wii and Nintendo DS, which was released on November 6, 2008. It is based on the television series Iron Chef America and developed by Black Lantern Studios, published by Destineer.-Overview:...
. As of episodes airing in 2010, Batali's name and likeness do not appear in the show's opening credits.
Batali is featured in PBS’s
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
show Spain... on the road Again
Spain... on the Road Again
Spain… on the road Again is a 2008 American food and travel series produced by PBS. The show features Iron Chef Mario Batali, actress Gwyneth Paltrow, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman, and Spanish actress Claudia Bassols...
with Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Kate Paltrow is an American actress and singer. She made her acting debut on stage in 1990 and started appearing in films in 1991. After appearing in several films throughout the decade, Paltrow gained early notice for her work in films such as Se7en and Emma...
, Mark Bittman
Mark Bittman
Mark Bittman is an American food journalist and author. He is columnist for The New York Times.-Education:Bittman is a graduate of Stuyvesant High School Class of 1967 and of Clark University.-Career:...
(of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
) and Claudia Bassols
Claudia Bassols
Claudia Bassols is a multi-lingual Spanish actress from the Catalonia region of Spain.-Career:Bassols graduated from the American School of Barcelona in 1997...
(a Spanish actress) featuring Spanish cuisine
Spanish cuisine
Spanish cuisine consists of a variety of dishes, which stem from differences in geography, culture and climate. It is heavily influenced by seafood available from the waters that surround the country, and reflects the country's deep maritime roots...
. The 13-episode series was filmed from October 2007 into early 2008. 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
Italian cuisine
Italian cuisine has developed through centuries of social and political changes, with roots as far back as the 4th century BCE. Italian cuisine in itself takes heavy influences, including Etruscan, ancient Greek, ancient Roman, Byzantine, Jewish and Arab cuisines...
and culture
Culture of Italy
From antiquity until the 16th century, Italy was at the centre of Western culture, fulcrum or origin of the Etruscan civilization, Ancient Rome, the Roman Catholic Church, Humanism and the Renaissance....
with Anthony Bourdain
Anthony Bourdain
Anthony Michael "Tony" Bourdain is an American chef, author and television personality. He is well known for his 2000 book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, and is the host of Travel Channel's culinary and cultural adventure program Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.A...
that reportedly will be an "exhaustive, definitive Italy series with the kind of production values that Planet Earth
Planet Earth (TV series)
Planet Earth is a 2006 television series produced by the BBC Natural History Unit. Five years in the making, it was the most expensive nature documentary series ever commissioned by the BBC, and also the first to be filmed in high definition...
had".
Batali teamed up with premium drum stick producer Vic Firth
Vic Firth (company)
Vic Firth is an American musician and is the founder of Vic Firth Company , a percussion stick and mallet manufacturing company that he started in 1963. The company bills itself as the world's largest manufacturer of drum sticks and mallets...
to create custom kitchen tools. Together they designed a line of wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
en rolling pin
Rolling pin
thumb|A wooden "roller" type rolling pinA rolling pin is a cylindrical food preparation utensil used to shape and flatten dough. Two styles of rolling pins are found; roller and rods. Roller types consists of a thick cylindrical roller with small handles at each end; rod type rolling pins are...
s, pepper grinder
Burr mill
A burr mill or burr grinder is a device to grind hard, small food products between two revolving abrasive surfaces separated by a distance usually set by the user. Usually the device includes a revolving screw that pushes the food through...
s and salt grinders.
In 2009, Batali announced the creation of the Mario Batali Foundation "to educate, empower and encourage children". The foundation is an event-driven fundraiser for children’s disease research, children’s hunger relief, and literacy programs.
Batali has been critical of fellow international chef Gordon Ramsay
Gordon Ramsay
Gordon James Ramsay, OBE is a Scottish chef, television personality and restaurateur. He has been awarded 13 Michelin stars....
, calling his cooking styles dated and boring. Although the New York Post reported, in 2009, of a feud between Ramsay and Batali, Batali has stated, "We really don't even know each other.... I'd love to hang out with him."
In 2009 Batali made his film debut in Wes Anderson
Wes Anderson
Wesley Wales Anderson is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, and producer of features, short films and commercials....
's Fantastic Mr. Fox
Fantastic Mr. Fox (film)
Fantastic Mr. Fox is a 2009 American stop-motion animated film based on the Roald Dahl children's novel of the same name. This story is about a fox who steals food each night from three mean and wealthy farmers. The farmers are fed up with Mr Fox's theft and try to kill him, so they dig their way...
.
Batali recently lost 45 pounds, hoping to shed about 80 pounds total. Batali said he decided to lose weight after he saw a picture of himself. He counts on light exercise and portion control to lose the weight. Batali said, "It’s really about calorie intake and calorie outtake. You just have to eat enough to get you to the next meal."
Mario is featured also in the MMORPG
MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is the third expansion pack for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft, following the last expansion Wrath of the Lich King. It was officially announced at BlizzCon on August 21, 2009, although dataminers and researchers discovered details...
: in Stormwind City there is the NPC
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
Bario Matalli (almost Mario Batali with the initial letters swapped) which is regarded as "Sous Chef" and feature the highest-level cooking recipes available.
Television credits
- Molto Mario
- Mediterranean Mario
- Mario Eats Italy
- Ciao America
- Iron Chef AmericaIron Chef AmericaIron Chef America: The Series is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's Iron Chef, and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed Iron Chef USA. The show is produced by Food Network, which also carried a dubbed version of the original Iron Chef. Like the...
: Battle of the Masters - Iron Chef America: The Series
- ICA:All-Star Special
- Mario, FULL BOIL (Special)
- GladWare containerGlad (company)Glad is an American company specializing in trash bags and plastic food storage containers.-History:The Glad brand originated in the United States in 1963 when the owner and CEO of the company, David Darroch, launched "Glad Wrap", a polyethylene film used as a food wrap. Douglas G. Taylor was...
commercials - Emeril LiveEmeril LiveEmeril Live is a program on The Cooking Channel hosted by Emeril Lagasse. It formerly aired on Food Network and Fine Living.Emeril Live features many of the same elements as Emeril's other program, Essence of Emeril, and often has a Creole theme...
(guest appearance) - ChefographyChefographyChefography is a television series biography of Food Network personalities. While the name implies that the program features biographies of chefs, it in fact includes both chef and non-chef Food Network personalities....
(guest appearance) - Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations (guest appearance)
- Spain... on the road AgainSpain... on the Road AgainSpain… on the road Again is a 2008 American food and travel series produced by PBS. The show features Iron Chef Mario Batali, actress Gwyneth Paltrow, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman, and Spanish actress Claudia Bassols...
(2008) - The Daily ShowThe Daily ShowThe Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
(guest appearance) (2010, 2011) - Bitter FeastBitter FeastBitter Feast is an American psychological horror film directed and written by Joe Maggio. It stars James LeGros as a chef pushed over the edge by food critic J.T. Franks' vicious review...
(2010) - Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
(cameo; 2010) - "The ChewThe ChewThe Chew is an American talk show/cooking show that airs in the United States on ABC as part of the network's weekday daytime lineup, centering on food-related and lifestyle topics. The program also airs in Canada on the stations of the Citytv television system.It premiered on September 26, 2011 ...
"
Awards
- Babbo, Michelin GuideMichelin GuideThe Michelin Guide is a series of annual guide books published by Michelin for over a dozen countries. The term normally refers to the Michelin Red Guide, the oldest and best-known European hotel and restaurant guide, which awards the Michelin stars...
One Star - Three Stars from The New York Times for "Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca"
- "Best New Restaurant of 1998" from the James Beard FoundationJames Beard FoundationThe James Beard Foundation is a New York-based national professional non-profit organization named in honor of James Beard that serves to promote the culinary arts by honoring chefs, wine professionals, journalists, and cookbook authors at annual award ceremonies and providing scholarships and...
for "Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca" - "Man of the Year" in GQ'sGQ (magazine)GQ is a monthly men's magazine focusing on fashion, style, and culture for men, through articles on food, movies, fitness, sex, music, travel, sports, technology, and books...
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)
- "Best Restaurateur" from the James Beard Foundation in 2008
Social activism
Mario is on the board of directors for The Lunchbox FundThe Lunchbox Fund
The Lunchbox Fund, founded in 2005, is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing a daily meal for extremely poor and at-risk students in South African town ship high schools. The daily meal boosts the children’s nutrition and ability to learn...
, a non-profit organization which provides a daily meal to students of township schools in Soweto
Soweto
Soweto is a lower-class-populated urban area of the city of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships...
of South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
Controversy
While attending an event for TimeTime (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
on November 8 , 2011, Batali stated "The way the bankers have toppled the way money is distributed – and taken most of it into their own hands – is as good as Stalin or Hitler and the evil guys." Following Batali's comments, users of Bloomberg's DINE
Peter Elliot
Peter Elliot is an American writer, editor and media personality, best known for his biography of restaurateur Sirio Maccioni. ‘Sirio: The story of my life and Le Cirque’ and for the development of DINE, the restaurant search engine and lifestyles portal for the global financial news and media...
function posted criticism of Batali, and called for a boycott of Batali's restaurant. Batali later apologized, stating "It was never my intention to equate our banking industry with Hitler and Stalin, two of the most evil, brutal dictators in modern history."
External links
- Mario Batali's official site
- Biography on Food Network's site
- Mario Batali at the Chef and Restaurant Database