Mario Batali – Well Known in His Chef Pants

Mario Batali is a critically acclaimed chef and restaurateur, an award-winning author, and a well-known and beloved television personality in uniform polo shirt. Mario Batali is one of the most widely-recognized and respected chefs who work in America today. He was raised in Seattle, and studied the golden age of the Spanish Theater at Rutgers University. After he graduated he entered culinary training at London’s Le Cordon Bleu, but he immediately withdrew due to a lack of interest. After an apprenticeship with legendary London chef Marco Pierre White, and three years of intensive culinary training in a tiny village in northern Italy, he had built a solid foundation of essential culinary skills and knowledge. He returned to his native America eager to refute the checkered tablecloth image of Italian restaurants. Working with his business partner, Joe Bastianich, Batali has created a super-successful culinary and restaurant empire embracing New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Singapore. The flagship restaurant was award-winning Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca in Greenwich Village, opened in 1998, where Batali seamlessly combined the principles of traditional Italian cuisine with intelligent new culinary adventures. The James Beard Foundation haled it the Best New Restaurant of 1998; and the New York Times awarded it three stars. Six years later a re-review maintained Babbo’s three-star achievements and its excellence compared to the finest restaurants in New York City.

Batali is chief in chef uniforms and also is the owner of Lupa Osteria Romana, a Roman style trattoria which opened in 1999; and Esca, a seafood trattoria in southern Italian style which opened in the Theater District in 2000. In 2003, in collaboration with Joe Bastianich, he opened another downtown eatery, the Otto Enoteca Pizzeria, which is right around the corner from the historic Washington Square Park. In 2003 he opened two restaurants adjacent to Gramercy Park: Park Bar Jamon is a bustling tapas bar with a wonderful selection of Spanish cheeses, ham, and other small plate specialties; and Casa Mono, located next door to Bar Jamon, is a Spanish style taverna which features a fabulous array of tapas, traditional entrees, wines, and sherries. In 2005 the pair opened Del Posto, a spacious, luxurious, and comfortable restaurant located in New York City’s meatpacking district, which features modern Italian cooking. Batali’s first restaurant venture on the west coast was a collaboration with Nancy Silverton, the Osteria Mozza and the Pizzeria Mozza restaurants in Los Angeles. Both restaurants share the corner of Highland and Melrose Avenue, and both have been tremendous successes. Osteria Mozza features a center-island mozzarella bar where fresh mozzarella is made all day long every day. Last year they added two take-out locations, Mozza2Go and Scuola di Pizza. In his first-ever foreign venture, Batali will soon open Osteria Mozza and Pizzaria Mozza at Marina Bay Sands Resort Casino in exotic Singapore. Among the many accolades he has received in chef pants, Batali was named the 1999 Man of the Year in the chefs category by GQ Magazine. He won the James Beard Foundation Best New York City Chef award in 2002; and he won the James Beard Foundation’s Outstanding Chef of the Year award. Batali has also received the 2001 D’Artagnan Cervena Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America, which is a prestigious award for lifetime achievement.