Mario Batali believes that olive oil is as precious as gold,
that shorts are acceptable attire for every season, and food,
like most things, is best when left to its own simple beauty.
To that end, Mario creates magic night after night in Manhattan's
West Village and Theater District, dividing his time between
his many Italian hotspots, the flagship of which is Babbo
Ristorante e Enoteca, an upscale dining room where Mario has
seamlessly combined traditional Italian principles with intelligent
culinary adventure since June of 1998.
A gastronomic superstar from its inception, the James Beard
Foundation honored Babbo with "the Best New Restaurant
of 1998" award and Ruth Reichl at the New York Times
hailed it with three stars. Six years later, a re-review by
Frank Bruni maintained Babbo's three-star power and its excellence
among New York City's finest restaurants. Mario also owns
Lupa, a Roman-style trattoria with Jason Denton, as well as
a wine shop-just off Union Square—Italian Wine Merchants.
Esca, a southern Italian seafood trattoria, opened near the
Theater District in April 2000 and in January 2003, Mario
and partner Joseph Bastianich opened another downtown eatery,
Otto Enoteca Pizzeria, located just around the corner from
historic Washington Square Park. Batali and Bastianich's latest
endeavor is Bistro du Vent, which serves southern French fare
just around the corner from Esca. The duo's next venture is
Del Posto, a spacious new restaurant slated to open early
next year in New York City's meatpacking district.
Raised in Seattle, Mario's initial career path had him studying
the golden age of Spanish theater at Rutgers University, but
soon after graduating, he took his first bite of culinary
training at Le Cordon Bleu in London, from which he withdrew
almost immediately due to a "lack of interest."
An apprenticeship with London’s legendary chef Marco
Pierre White and three years of intense culinary training
in the Northern Italian village of Borgo Capanne (population
200) gave him the essential skills and knowledge to return
to his native US, anxious to plant his orange-clogged foot
firmly in the behinds of the checkered-tablecloth Italian
restaurant establishment.
Among his many accolades, Mario was named "Man of the
Year" in the chef category by GQ Magazine in 1999, and
in 2002 he won the James Beard Foundation's "Best Chef:
New York City" award. Mario is also one of the recipients
of the 2001 D'Artagnan Cervena "Who's Who of Food &
Beverage in America," a prestigious lifetime achievement
award. In May of 2005, Mario was Awarded "Chef of the
Year" by the James Beard Foundation.
Always eager to educate the masses about the simplistic beauty
that is Italian cuisine, Mario hosts two popular television
programs, "Molto Mario" and "Mario Eats Italy,"
both on the Food Network. He has authored Simple Italian
Food (Clarkson Potter, 1998), Mario Batali Holiday
Food (Clarkson Potter, 2000); as well as The Babbo
Cookbook, released in 2002. His latest book, Molto
Italiano—327 Simple Classic Italian Recipes to Cook
at Home (Ecco-Harper Collins), was released in May of
2005.
Mario splits his time between New York City's Greenwich Village
and Northport, Michigan with his wife Susi Cahn of Coach Dairy
Goat Farm, and their two sons, Benno and Leo.
