Mario Francesco Batali (born September 19, 1960) is an American 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, Boston, Singapore, Westport, Connecticut and New Haven, Connecticut. Batali's signature clothing style includes a fleece vest, shorts and orange Crocs. He is also known as "Molto Mario".
Family background and personal life
Mario was raised in Seattle, Washington, by Marilyn Batali and Armandino Batali, who worked for Boeing most of Mario’s childhood. He spent his high school years studying in Madrid, Spain, before attending Rutgers University for Spanish Theater and Business Management. During his college years, he worked for a stromboli restaurant and bar near the Rutgers campus called Stuff Yer Face in New Brunswick, New Jersey. After graduating, he attended Le Cordon Bleu in London for a few short months before taking an apprenticeship with revered Chef Marco Pierre White in London at the Six Bells pub. Over the next three years, he underwent a culinary transformation that prepared him to leap into New York’s Italian cuisine with his own unique signature.
Currently, Batali lives in Greenwich Village with his wife Susi Cahn, of Coach Dairy Goat Farm, and his two sons Leo and Benno. Cahn's parents (and Batali's in-laws), Miles and Lillian Cahn, were the co-founders of Coach, Inc. He keeps a summer home on Grand Traverse Bay in tiny Northport, Michigan.
Professional career
At 29, Batali was a sous chef at the Four Seasons Biltmore after previously working as a sous chef for the then Four Seasons Clift Hotel San Francisco, (since 1995, known as "The Clift", under changed ownership.) In the early 1990s Mario began working at the Italian restaurant Rocco’s before opening Pó in New York City in 1993 with incredible success. The New York buzz for his restaurants translated into the Food Network show Molto Mario which aired from 1996 to 2004 where Mario’s career took off.
In more recent years, a lawsuit was filed in which Mario settled with his restaurant staff who alleged successfully that the Batali organization had skimmed a percentage of the tip pools in his restaurants over a period of years.
Mario teamed up with Joe Bastianich to form B&B Hospitality Group. Together they opened Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca in New York City which quickly gained the coveted three stars award from the New York Times, the first Italian restaurant to do so in 40 years. Together they opened seven more restaurants in New York: Lupa, Esca, Casa Mono, Bar Jamon, Otto, Del Posto, and Eataly (an Italian marketplace). In 2010, Del Posto received a four-star review from the New York Times. It is one of only six restaurants in New York with the award. Since 2008, Del Posto has been a recipient of the Wine Spectator Grand Award. Their culinary empire has expanded to 10 restaurants in New York, four restaurants in Las Vegas, two restaurants in Los Angeles, two restaurants in Singapore, one Italian market in Chicago, and two restaurants in Hong Kong. In 2015, they opened Babbo Pizzeria e Enoteca in the Seaport area of Boston.
Social activism
Batali is a critic of hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, a method of natural gas extraction. He has signed onto the cause of Chefs for the Marcellus, whose mission is to "protect [New York's] regional foodshed from the dangers of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas (fracking)." In May 2013, Batali co-wrote an opinion article with chef Bill Telepan for the New York Daily News, in which the two wrote that "Fracking ... could do serious damage to [New York's] agricultural industry and hurt businesses, like ours, that rely on safe, healthy, locally sourced foods."
Batali is on the board of directors for The Lunchbox Fund, a non-profit organization which provides a daily meal to students of township schools in Soweto, South Africa. He supports the practice of Transcendental Meditation through the David Lynch Foundation.
Philanthropy
The Mario Batali Foundation was founded in 2008 to ensure that all children are well read, well fed, and well cared for.
Mario aids the Lunchbox Fund which was founded as a nonprofit to ensure that orphaned and vulnerable school children in the rural areas of South Africa are given at least one meal a day.
He is also involved with the Food Bank for New York City which was founded to provide meals and support to the most vulnerable in New York City through soup kitchens, food pantries, classrooms, afternoon programs, and more.
Television credits
- Molto Mario
- Mediterranean Mario
- Mario Eats Italy
- Ciao America
- Iron Chef America: Battle of the Masters
- Iron Chef America: The Series (judge or participant)
- ICA:All-Star Special
- Mario, FULL BOIL (Special)
- GladWare container commercials
- Emeril Live (guest appearance)
- Chefography (guest appearance)
- Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations (guest appearance)
- Spain... on the road Again (2008)
- The Daily Show (guest appearance) (2010, 2011, 2012)
- Bitter Feast (2010)
- Saturday Night Live (cameo; 2010)
- The Chew
- Good Morning America (guest appearances)
- Worth It (Season 2 Episode 5) $2 Pizza Vs. $2,000 Pizza • New York City
Awards
- Babbo, Michelin Guide, 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)
- "Best Restaurateur" from the James Beard Foundation in 2008
- Culinary Hall of Fame Induction.
Bibliography
- Mario Batali Simple Italian Food: Recipes from My Two Villages (1998), ISBNÂ 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), ISBNÂ 0-609-60848-7
- The Babbo Cookbook (2002), ISBNÂ 0-609-60775-8
- The Artist's Palate (foreword) (2003), ISBNÂ 0-7894-7768-8
- Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home (2005), ISBNÂ 0-06-073492-2
- Mario Tailgates NASCAR Style (2006), ISBNÂ 0-89204-846-8
- Spain...A Culinary Road Trip (2008), written with Gwyneth Paltrow, and Julia Turshen. ISBNÂ 978-0-06-156093-4
- Italian Grill (2008), written with Judith Sutton. ISBNÂ 978-0-06-145097-6
- Molto Gusto: Easy Italian Cooking (2010), written with Mark Ladner. ISBNÂ 978-0-06-192432-3
- Molto Batali: Simple Family Meals from My Home to Yours (2011), ISBNÂ 978-0-06-209556-5
- America â€" Farm to Table: Simple, Delicious Recipes Celebrating Local Farmers written with Jim Webster
- Mediterranean Summer, A Season on France's Côte d/Azur and Italy's Costa Bella (2007), written by David Shalleck and Erol Munuz ISBN 978-0-7679-2048-3 Contributor Foreword by Mario Batali
Restaurants owned or operated by Batali and Bastianich Hospitality Group
- B&B Burger & Beer, Las Vegas
- B&B Ristorante, Las Vegas
- BABBO Pizzeria e Enoteca, Boston, Massachusetts
- BABBO Ristorante e Enoteca, New York City
- Bar Jamon, New York City
- Becco, New York City
- Birreria, New York City
- Carnevino Italian Steakhouse, Las Vegas, Nevada /Hong Kong
- Casa Mono, New York City
- Chi Spacca, Los Angeles
- Del Posto, New York City
- Eataly NYC, New York City, Eataly Chicago
- ESCA, New York City
- Felidia, New York City
- Lidia’s, Kansas City, Missouri
- Lidia's Italy, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- LUPA, New York City / Hong Kong
- Mozza2Go, Los Angeles, California
- Orsone, Frazione Gagliano, Italy
- Osteria Mozza, Los Angeles, California / Singapore
- OTTO Enoteca Pizzeria, New York City / Las Vegas
- Pizzeria Mozza, Los Angeles, California / Newport Beach, California / Singapore / San Diego
- Tarry Market, Port Chester
- Tarry Wine, Port Chester
- Tarry Lodge, Port Chester / Westport, Connecticut / New Haven, Connecticut
See also
- List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
References
External links
- Official website
- Biography on Food Network's site
- Mario Batali at the Chef and Restaurant Database
- Mario Batali on IMDb