Mario Batali [Iron Chef]

By: Editor | March 09, 2011 | Ten by Ten

Mario Batali’s delectable Italian cuisine is a true culinary experience, leaving an unforgettable taste in your mouth. The chef, restaurateur and television sensation has created a gastronomic empire with restaurants in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Singapore. His award-winning restaurant, Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca, offers a perfect fusion between traditional and modern Italian food; earning him a three-star ranking and many loyal customers since 1998, when it was voted “Best New Restaurant” by The James Beard Foundation. Among his many local praise-worthy restaurants are Osteria Mozza and Pizzeria Mozza in Los Angeles. The sister restaurants are now being opened in Singapore, Batali’s first foreign undertaking. Mario’s most recent endeavor, alongside his partners Lidia Bastianich and Oscar Farinetti, is a 50,000-foot market on Fifth Avenue in New York City cleverly named “Eataly.” When it comes to culinary expertise, Mario Batali definitely has the recipe for success.

Name one person you most admire, past or present, and why?

Benjamin Franklin was one of the most thoughtful and innovative thinkers of our times.

How would you define happiness?

The stasis between having what you want, making what you can and doing what you should.
 


How would you define the role of art in modern society?

Art leads the rich, inspires the smart and does nothing at all for those who pay no attention to it.



What is the best career advice you’ve ever received, and who gave it to you?

Get back in the game. They may be big, but you’re playing well — countless friends and mentors using different words.
 


What artist (musician, poet, painter, etc.) has had the greatest impact on your life and how?

Jim Harrison has taught me to listen to the poets and how to pay attention to the sounds of falling water and of birds’ wings even while in the city.



What is your greatest extravagance?

Fancy hotel suites.



How would you like to be remembered?

As a good dad and a fine husband



Favorite all-time …

Song: Lotus Feet by John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain, and Goodbye Pork Pie Hat by Charles Mingus

Movie: Tin Drum written by Gunter Grass, directed by Volker Schlondorf

Painting: Water Lilies by Monet and Blue Poles by Jackson Pollock

Book: Road Home by Jim Harrison

TV Show: The Sopranos and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon



How would you define love?

The joy of shared experience and the ephemeral confidence that comes from that.



If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be and why?

If we would distribute all of the food evenly, hunger would go away. Then we would teach everyone to farm and raise food sustainably, and hunger will stay away, and then we can get down to the fun part of creation.

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