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| Mario Batali. Photo: Bauer-Griffin. |
"It's going to be settled," Bastianich told the New York Daily News on Wednesday. "We've returned the space back to the landlord, and the rent is going to be paid today or tomorrow."
The pair were guarantors of the failed restaurant, the Daily News reports.
The restaurant, located in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, opened nine months ago with April Bloomfield of the Spotted Pig serving as executive chef.
It was immediately well-received by the food community -- Frank Bruni gave the restaurant two stars in his New York Times review. However, the seafood house closed without warning on Aug. 29.
Batali is known as the orange-Croc-wearing, Gwyneth Paltrow-loving, former Food Network star, having hosted his own cooking show, "Molto Mario," and served as one of the permanent chefs on "Iron Chef America."
The chef owns eight acclaimed restaurants in New York City, including Babbo and the two-Michelin-star, Del Posto.
[Via New York Daily News]
Mario Batali
Chef Mario Batali is seen riding his Vespa on Oct. 14, 2008, in New York City.
Arnaldo Magnani/Getty Images
Chef Mario Batali attends the Food Bank for New York City's Sixth Annual Can-Do Awards at Abigail Kirsch's Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers on April 21, 2009 in New York City.
Jamie McCarthy/WireImage for BWR
Chef Mario Batali, center, plates a pasta dish in the kitchen of Del Posto, his Italian restaurant in New York, in this Feb. 8, 2006, file photo. Despite a dispute with its old landlord that led to threats of eviction and a costly legal battle, the restaurant, owned by celebrity chefs Batali and Lidia Bastianich, will remain open. The building has a new owner, and with the purchase, Joseph Bastianich, Lidia's restaurateur son, said on June, 12, 2007, that the litigation was terminated.
Tina Fineberg/AP
Mario Batali sighting on March 11, 2009, in New York City.
Christopher Peterson/BuzzFoto/FilmMagic
Chef Mario Batali and Susi Cahn attend the launch of 'Spain ... On The Road Again' at the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute on Sept. 21, 2008, in New York City.
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Celebrity chef Mario Batali helps celebrate the opening of the new Uncle Ben's Kids Cafe in Carson, Calif., by conducting a cooking demonstration for the children on May 28, 2008. The opening of the Kids Cafe is part of a multi-year partnership with Uncle Ben's and the Kids Cafe program of America's Second Harvest - The Nation's Food Bank Network. Last year Uncle Ben's announced a $1 million donation to open Kids Cafe locations in communities in which Mars, Inc., does business with a purpose of providing free meals and snacks to low-income children.
Chris Polk/FilmMagic
Chef Mario Batali poses for photographers during red carpet arrivals at the premiere of the film 'Infamous' in New York on Oct. 9, 2006. Directed by Douglas McGrath, 'Infamous' is a film about Truman Capote.
Stuart Ramson/AP
Chef Mario Batali attends preparations for a Thanksgiving feast at Covenant House New York on Nov. 25, 2008, in New York City.
Neilson Barnard/Getty Images
Mario Batali attends the Tiger Woods Block Party .
Lester Cohen/WireImage
Mario Batali attends the 2008 Brooklyn Academy Of Music Spring Gala at The BAM Howard Gilman Opera House on April 9, 2008, in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Jason Kempin/WireImage
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