"joe bastianich" news and stories

Mario Batali has been busy lately.

In recent weeks he opened his Italian food emporium Eataly in Manhattan and launched the inaugural issue of his new promotional magazine Viaggio. He's also working on a new online cookbook project, The Celebrity Pasta Lovers Cookbook, created with actress Julianne Moore and sponsored by Barilla pasta (through it's Share the Table project, featuring pasta recipes from film and television stars like Jimmy Fallon and Meryl Streep).

So we felt very lucky (and knew we had to talk fast) when Batali took the time to sit down with Slashfood in New York City to chat about pasta, pizza and all things Italian.

Remember when we sat down with Mario Batali last month? Among candid talk of his many, many projects, he gave us a little insight into the much-awaited, many-times-delayed Eataly, which is now set to officially open August 31.

This is the first U.S. outpost of the gargantuan flagship market in Turin, Italy, which combines the feel of an outdoor market with the finest restaurants in the country. Batali -- along with partners Joe Bastianich, Lidia Bastianich and Oscar Farinetti (the franchise's founder) -- gave the New York press a sneak preview of the 50,000-square-foot, bi-level mecca on Tuesday.

Time Out New York calls it a "gastro-playground" and advises food nerds to start their engines; the New York Post describes it as "ambitious, sprawling"; while the Gothamist imagines it's a "haven for Italian ex-pats."

"This is the Italy of Vespas and stilettos," the Gothamist says, while Batali tells them: "It could be the cornerstone of Italian gastronomic culture."

At the majority of events at the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival, celebrity chefs whip up gourmet burgers, lobster rolls and even dim sum for their fans. Last night, the tables were turned at the Barilla Interactive dinner at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. At this gathering the people behind the stove weren't named Emeril, Rachael or Guy. Instead, the guests were doing the cooking for the likes of Lidia Bastianich, Philippe Ruiz and Joe Bastianich.

The ornate Biltmore ballroom was the scene of this impromptu Italian cooking experiment. Each table was equipped with a gas burner, frying pans and assorted cooking tools. A student chef from Coral Gables Senior High School partnered up with each table to guide us through the process.

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After years of high-profile globe-trotting and television celebrity chef-dom, Mario Batali wants to go back to his roots -- in the kitchen, Time magazine reported.

Batali and partner Joe Bastianich are planning a new Manhattan Italian market and restaurant complex, Eataly New York, that will house six new restaurants: a meat restaurant, a fish restaurant, a pasta and pizza place, a vegetable restaurant, a panino bar and a brewery-gastropub. Batali is planning the menus.

"These are the first really unadulterated [Batali restaurants] we've opened since Otto, seven years ago," Batali told Time.