Mario Batali

Mario Francesco Batali (born September 19, 1960) is an American chef, writer, and former restaurateur. Batali co-owned restaurants in New York City; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Newport Beach, California; Boston; Singapore; Westport, Connecticut; and New Haven, Connecticut including Babbo (restaurant) in New York City which received a Michelin star for several years. Batali has appeared on the Food Network, on shows such as Molto Mario and Iron Chef America, on which he was one of the featured "Iron Chefs". In 2017, the restaurant review site Eater revealed multiple accusations of sexual misconduct against Batali and, in March 2019, he sold all his restaurant holdings.

Batali was born in Seattle on September 19, 1960, to Marilyn (LaFramboise) and Armandino Batali, who founded Seattle's Salumi restaurant in 2006. His father is of Italian descent and his mother is of part French-Canadian ancestry. Batali attended Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, while working as a cook at the pub/restaurant Stuff Yer Face.[10]

In 1994, he married Susi Cahn and together they have two sons.[11][12] Batali is the son-in-law of Miles and Lillian Cahn, founders of Coach Inc.[13] Batali's brother Dana Batali was Director of Pixar RenderMan development from 2001 to 2015.[14][15]

At 29, Batali was a sous chef at the Four Seasons Biltmore in Santa Barbara after previously working as a sous chef for the then-Four Seasons Clift Hotel San Francisco[16] (since 1995, known as "The Clift", under changed ownership).[17] Early in his career, Batali worked with chef Jeremiah Tower at his San Francisco restaurant Stars.[18] Stars was open from 1984 until 1999 and is considered one of the birthplaces of the institution of the celebrity chef. Batali appeared in the Food Network show Molto Mario[19] which aired from 1996 to 2004. The show made Batali a household name and popularized the Food Network.

In 1998, Batali, Joe Bastianich, and Lidia Bastianich formed the B&B Hospitality Group,[20] also known as Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group. The flagship restaurant for B&B is Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca in New York City which has a Michelin star.[21]

Batali was a co-host of the ABC daytime talk show The Chew from its premiere in 2011 until 2017.[22]

In 2012, a lawsuit was settled by Batali (and B&B) with 117 members of the restaurant staff,[23] who alleged that the Batali organization had skimmed a percentage of the tip pools in his restaurants over a period of years.[24]

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)."[25][26] 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."[27] Batali was the subject of a 2007 book titled Heat by Bill Buford which detailed his philosophy to various aspects of social activism, as well as cooking and life.

Batali served as an ambassador and 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. In December 2017, Batali stepped down from his role with the organization in response to sexual misconduct allegations against him.[28]

In 2008, Batali and his wife Susi Cahn founded the Mario Batali Foundation, funding various children's educational programs and pediatric disease research.[28]

He supports the practice of Transcendental Meditation through the David Lynch Foundation.[29][30]

In a 2012 interview, Batali said that good Italian cooking was characterized by simplicity, an insight he attributed to his time working at a restaurant in Borgo Capanne, Italy.[clarification needed ][31]

On December 11, 2017, restaurant news website Eater reported that four women accused Batali of sexual harassment and sexual assault.[32][22][33] By the following day, four more women had come forward.[34] Batali took a leave of absence from his position at the management company Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group.[28][35] Producers of ABC's The Chew fired him on December 14, 2017.[36] Food Network halted plans to release episodes of his television show Molto Mario after the allegations.[37] Target announced that it was no longer selling Batali's pasta sauces and cookbooks.[38][39]

In May 2018, more accusations of sexual assault against Batali were aired on an episode of 60 Minutes, and the New York Police Department confirmed it was investigating Batali for his past behavior, including an alleged assault that took place at The Spotted Pig, a restaurant where Batali was an investor.[40] Batali denied an allegation of sexual assault, but said "My past behavior has been deeply inappropriate and I am sincerely remorseful for my actions."[40] Days later, Batali's company B&B Hospitality Group announced it would be closing its three Las Vegas Strip restaurants after the Las Vegas Sands Corporation terminated the companies' relationship.[41]

In January 2019, New York City police declined to charge Batali over two alleged sexual assaults in his New York City restaurants due to insufficient evidence.[42]

In March 2019, Batali surrendered[clarification needed ] ownership of his stakes in Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group, a partnership between Batali and the Bastianich family, including Joe and Lidia Bastianich.[43] He also sold his minority ownership in Eataly, an Italian food marketplace.[43] The Bastianiches said B&B Hospitality Group's name would change.[44][45] Batali was the first chef to surrender ownerships in all his restaurants after reports of sexual misconduct.[43][46]

In July 2021, Batali, Bastianich, and their former restaurant company agreed to a settlement in the New York state case that was under investigation by the Attorney General of New York wherein they would pay $600,000[47] to more than 20 former employees (men and women) of three restaurants in Manhattan.[48][49]

In May 2019, Batali was charged with indecent assault and battery in Boston.[50] In court, the accuser alleged that Batali had groped her in April 2017 at a bar in Boston. Batali pleaded not guilty and chose a bench trial.[49][51][52][53]

On May 10, 2022, Batali was acquitted in Boston Municipal Court by a judge who ruled that Batali's conduct during the alleged incident was "not befitting of a public person of his stature" but agreed with the defense's arguments that his accuser had credibility issues and was motivated by financial gain to make her accusation.[49][54][55]

Batali is also a main subject of Bill Buford's book Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany (2007) ISBN 978-1400034475