Unable to control his, uh...natural exuberance, celebrity chef/walking impulse control problem Mario Batali "dropped some royally naughty words" in front of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain, according to AP reports. Batali was apparently annoyed when the crowd at a $1,000-a-plate dinner at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival wouldn't quiet down. He used the f-word once while quieting them, then used it again while introducing chef Jose Andres, of Los Angeles restaurant The Bazaar. He then proceeded to grab Andres' bottom. The queen is said to have "blanched."
While I'm the last one to think anyone should stand on ceremony for royalty (monarchies in the 21st century? C'mon now.), I still enjoy imagining the general horror rushing through the fancy-pants crowd as Batali blithely f-bombs and butt-grabs his way across the stage.
Chef Andres was apparently amused by the antics. ''This is what food and wine from Spain will do to you,'' he said.

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2-22-2009 @4:23PM Amber said... Standing on ceremony? You mean you think that not swearing or grabbing body parts in front of a large audience is standing on ceremony? Sorry, but that's called manners! I would have blanched as well!
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2-22-2009 @6:13PM Megan said... I agree, Amber. And honestly, I cringe when people think "it's the 21st century, so we can ditch this-and-that etiquette."
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2-22-2009 @6:23PM ematchar said... My point was that Batali's crudeness was not somehow worse because it was around "royalty" than it would have been if he'd been talking to any average person.
-Emily
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2-23-2009 @8:05AM zen said... I agree. True, the guy was crude, but I still don't get why so-called "royalty" should get better treatment than anyone else in the world. I find it hard to believe they've never heard, or used, profanity.
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2-23-2009 @1:04PM Matthew Harris said... I can't believe he did that! Batali is the man.
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2-23-2009 @12:16PM Rt said... Chef Andres was apparently amused by the antics. ''This is what food and wine from Spain will do to you,''
What? Make you vulgar?
This resulted in what Batali wanted - press coverage. Crude people may not always be shallow, but I'm betting most of the time.
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2-23-2009 @1:20PM DK said... Classy!
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