He's a well-known Iron Chef and a once-successful restaurateur, almost as famous for his brand
of Italian cooking as he is for his orange Crocs, ponytail, and zip-up vests. But while
you're sure to have seen him on The Food Network and The Chew, there's a lot you don't know
about Mario Batali's sometimes sordid past.
In October 2017, an employee lodged the first formal misconduct complaint against Batali.
And according to Eater, in the following months more people started coming forward with accusations
of inappropriate behavior against the chef, both during and outside of work. One woman
even claimed Batali cornered her in a small room, forcing her to climb over him to escape.
And others called him a quote "bully" and, generally an "awful person."
"I think Mario Batali's a monster. Behind the scenes he is hurtful, and he does not
respect women."
Accusations of misconduct go back to the '90s, and both current and former employees have
come forward to claim they were targets of Batali's unwanted advances. Other former coworkers
have corroborated their stories. While Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group and partner
Joe Bastianich condemned the actions and reiterated a commitment to providing a safe work environment
for their employees, Batali didn't make any denials. He said in a statement,
"I apologize to the people I have mistreated and hurt…Much of the behavior described
does, in fact, match up with ways I have acted. That behavior was wrong and there are no excuses.
I take full responsibility and am deeply sorry."
As a result of the accusations, he was asked to leave The Chew, and took a leave of absence
from other business endeavors. In May of 2018, the NYPD announced they were conducting an
investigation into the accusations, but that investigation was closed in January 2019 with
no charges filed. According to CNN, only one of the two cases being investigated was within
the statute of limitations, and the NYPD was unable to find probable cause for either case.
By March 2019, Batali officially dissolved his restaurant partnerships.
But before his downfall, the chef made quite a mark in the food industry.
It's no secret that working in the restaurant industry is stressful, and when you're in
charge of multiple restaurants and countless employees, that stress level goes through
the roof. But Batali claimed to have found a way to manage his temper and stress by practicing
mantra-based transcendental meditation, or "T.M."
"You don't need to die for what you want to accomplish. And that's what T.M. is about."
He told the 10% Happier podcast that he was introduced to the idea by Jerry Seinfeld and
his wife, Jessica. After joining them for a couple of dinners and talking about the
positive impact regular meditation can have, he not only decided to give it a go, but he
says he noticed a difference within a month, claiming,
"It allowed me to more carefully or more slowly react to something that was offending me,
bothering me, pissing me off, or totally enraging me."
Building a successful restaurant empire is no easy task, and Batali has offered up some
advice on just how he did it. He summed up three points for Forbes in 2016, saying,
"Be the first one there and the last one out…[And] surround yourself with a team of people that
is the only team that matters to you."
"I don't have to be the smartest, or the youngest, or the coolest guy in the room, I just gotta
be in the room."
He's also credited his father with instilling a work ethic in him from childhood. He told
The New York Times of an incident where his father called him home after he'd gone to
a friend's house. Mario had done the dishes but left the sink a mess, and he says that
was a key moment when he realized how important it is to see a job through to the end.
Batali is famous for decadent meat dishes, particularly his pork-based creations. But
he's also a supporter of Meatless Monday, a worldwide initiative officially founded
in 2003 that has the support of everyone from animal welfare activists to environmentalists.
Batali might seem like an unlikely name to add to that list, but in 2010 he took a pledge
to introduce the concept across the board at every single one of his restaurants. He
told HuffPost,
"Asking everyone to go vegetarian or vegan isn't a realistic or attainable goal. But
we can focus on a more plant-based diet, and support the farmers who raise their animals
humanely and sustainably. That's why I'm such a big believer in the Meatless Monday movement."
"This is exactly what we're gonna have at my house, which involves just delicious simple
pasta, as quickly as you can make it."
He made the commitment to offer at least two vegetarian options on the menu of each of
his restaurants on Mondays.
In 2010, Batali and business partner Joe Bastianich found themselves on the receiving end of a
lawsuit filed by two of their employees, both on the wait staff of West Village restaurant
Babbo. According to the lawsuit, tips were being pooled, and before being distributed
to the wait staff, 4.5 percent of the evening's wine sales were deducted from the tips. The
partners were also accused of failing to pay appropriate overtime to employees who worked
more than a 10-hour shift.
The lawsuit covered staff who had worked at the restaurants in almost all front of house
capacities between July 2004 and February 2012, and included 117 plaintiffs in total.
When the case was settled in March of 2012, a legal stipulation forbade Batali and Bastianich
from publicly discussing the case, but it was revealed that they settled for a whopping
$5.25 million, according to HuffPost.
Batali's mega success almost didn't happen. In 1999, on opening night for his third restaurant,
Batali was double-checking a dishwasher, when he heard a noise described as a "flushing
tube of water." At first, he thought it was coming from the dishwasher, then thought it
was something in his ear. In reality, it was a brain aneurysm, and it nearly killed him.
Emergency surgery the next morning saved his life.
It turned out, the chef beat some pretty stiff odds. Delish reported that half of those that
suffer from aneurysms die immediately, four out of five suffer permanent brain damage,
and only about 10 percent of sufferers recover completely. Batali was fortunate enough to
be in that 10 percent, and ever since, he's been an outspoken supporter of the Brain Aneurysm
Foundation.
Most celebrity chefs have their own signature look, and for Batali, it all comes down to
those orange Crocs. Love 'em or hate 'em, they're undeniably his. He once revealed to Inc.,
"Orange became the national family Batali color."
"At a certain point in your life, you realize I don't really care what people think about
my clothes."
When his kids were very young, Batali dressed them in bright orange and yellow so he could
spot them from across the park. When he opened his first restaurant, his wife bought him
a pair of distinctive orange shoes. Once orange Crocs came out, it was love at first sight,
so much so that he ordered 200 pairs when he heard they were being discontinued, according
to Eater.
No one will argue that health inspections aren't necessary, but in 2013 one of Batali's
employees stepped forward with an odd claim. According to the accusation, Batali's restaurants
were outfitted with a buzzer that could be pressed from the hostess stations, sounding
an alarm in the kitchen. That was a signal that the health inspectors were on the premises,
and chefs were to throw away what they were working on and leave the kitchen. Since most
fines were issued for improper temperatures and worker sanitation violations, the idea
was to get rid of the source of most issues.
According to the New York Post, the buzzer system was verified by other employees. A
manager and a hostess both confirmed the systems were in place at Lupa and Babbo, but that
they hadn't been used, and Batali refused to comment. Partner Joe Bastianich did, though,
denying the entire thing, saying,
"You don't have to throw away food. The rules are not that idiotic."
He also claimed that they weren't in the business of evading health inspectors, and another
employee said they were once so fastidious about health and safety that Batali would
fire the managers of restaurants who didn't pass with an A grade.
"We're always trying to personify, exemplify, and put your imprimatur on it. But it's very
difficult sometimes just to let something sing by itself."
In 2011, Batali appeared on a panel of guests at an event hosted by Time magazine to discuss
who was worthy of being Person of the Year. But some of his remarks landed him in serious
hot water. After recommending food writer Michael Pollan for the honor, he went on to
say the industry that has had the most impact on the world was the banking industry, adding,
"The way the bankers have toppled the way that money is distributed, and taken most
of it into their own hands, is as good as Stalin or Hitler, the evil guys."
Needless to say, the statement didn't go over well. His spokesperson issued an apology not
long afterward, but the damage had been done. Investment firms and Wall Street bankers cancelled
reservations, and at least one bank sent out a memo saying that they would no longer honor
expense reports looking for reimbursement for money spent at his restaurants. Even two
years later, Batali was on Bloomberg TV's Titans of the Table, still trying to smooth
ruffled feathers, and claiming he was misquoted.
"It was never intended to be I don't like bankers, I don't like banking, I keep my money
in a bank. We all say silly things and eventually we learn to regret them."
Batali has posted so many recipes that it's unlikely even the most dedicated home cook
will ever get the chance to try them all, but the most unique might be his take on pot
brownies. The double chocolate brownies were posted on Food 52, with the disclaimer that
they were only for those living in a state where marijuana was legal, and that anyone
who did decide to make them should quote "make sure you're not driving and that you're hanging
with cool people."
Comments on the site were mixed when it came to the actual quality of the brownies, but
High Times posted a bit of a warning: following his instructions would just mean you're wasting
a lot of pot. It all had to do with how it's prepared, and edible pros say that since Batali
skipped a major step in the process, not activating the THC in the marijuana, his attempt at creating
the pot brownie recipe to end all other pot brownie recipes fell completely flat.
On October 18, 2016, President Barack Obama enjoyed his final state dinner at the White
House. According to Eater, it was Michelle Obama who chose Batali to take charge of the
food, and when he was asked how long he had been preparing for the evening, Batali responded,
"56 years."
"We got a lotta work to do."
The Batali pick wasn't random. He's been a longtime supporter of Michelle Obama's Let's
Move campaign, and since the guests of honor were the prime minister of Italy and his wife,
the choice was a logical one. Two months of planning went into the dinner, and The First
Family requested Italian dishes that were a huge part of American culture, made with
ingredients found in the States. Cooking for the President might seem stressful, but it
was the opinions of Sasha and Malia that Batali was most concerned about. He said,
"Kids are the ones who tell you exactly how it is, so yes, we'll see what they think."
Everyone needs their down time, and according to what Batali told Bloomberg, he likes to
relax with golf. He plays an estimated 45 rounds of golf each summer alone, and told
The Haney Project,
"The reason I play golf is because I spend most of my life in small hot rooms. When you're
out on the golf course, it's kind of that sense of luxurious nothingness."
Of course, his celebrity status has given him access to some of the best courses in
the world. But his favorite spot of all doesn't have nearly the name recognition as others
might: It's in Waterville, Ireland, and while it's world-class, he describes it as a "shack
and a track." He puts this hobby to good use, and Golf Digest reports his tournaments support
his own charity, which furthered his mission of keeping children, quote, "well read, well
fed, and well cared for."
Batali hasn't been shy about his biggest pet peeve: food waste. A reported 40 percent of
the world's food is wasted, and when he spoke with The LA Times, he gave some insight into
making a positive impact on the world's food supply. Which included everything from practicing
nose-to-tail cooking to asking for smaller portion sizes at a restaurant.
He also has raised awareness of the world's problematic obsession with perfect vegetables,
telling outlets like Food 52 how important it is to realize vegetables and fruit don't
have to look perfect to taste good. He says an unthinkable 6 billion pounds of produce
goes to waste every year in the US alone. In addition to buying non-perfect fruit and
veggies, he also says buying local and buying what's in season can go a long way toward
cutting back on food waste.
"Won't you help save these fruits? Rescue these vegetables, and give them the home they deserve?"
Batali also practices what he preaches. He once teamed up with Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
and founder Sam Calagione to create a beer called Waste Not. It was made from "waste"
food like stale bread and overripe tomatoes, and was on tap at big-city restaurants across
the country in 2015.
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