Del Posto, Babbo, Otto (New York City)

With twenty restaurants, nine cookbooks and a host of television shows, including the ever-popular Iron Chef America, Mario Batali is one of the most recognized and respected chefs working today. Mario and his business partner, Joe Bastianich, own seventeen restaurants across the country including their flagship Manhattan enoteca, Babbo. In the summer of 2010, they opened Eataly, a 50,000 square foot marketplace in New York City. Eataly’s latest dining option, a beer-centric rooftop restaurant and brewery called Birreria, opened in June 2011. In their first overseas venture, Mario and Joe opened Osteria Mozza and Pizzeria Mozza in the Marina Bay Sands Resort Casino in exotic and beautiful Singapore. In April 2012, the pair opened Lupa in Hong Kong, their first restaurant in China. Mario is also the author of nine cookbooks including the James Beard Award Winning, Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes (ecco 2005); New York Times Bestseller Mario Batali Italian Grill (ecco 2007); and Molto Gusto (ecco 2010). Mario’s newest book, Molto Batali: Simple Family Meals form My Home to Yours (ecco 2011), was released in the fall of 2011. As of September 2011, Mario stars in “The Chew,” a daytime talk show on ABC that celebrates and explores life through food. Mario splits his time between New York City’s Greenwich Village and northern Michigan with his wife and their two sons.

Photo by Melanie Dunea.