A former waiter at Mario Batali's ever-packed West Village restaurant Babbo has filed suit, alleging that Batali and business parter Joe Bastianich stood by while he was subject to merciless sexual taunting. more ›

Mario Batali would like you (and more importantly the banking community) to know that he does not actually believe most bankers are like Hitler or Stalin. After bankers started canceling reservations and threatening to boycott his many restaurants, the Croc-loving chef took to Twitter (and his press team took to e-mail) for some serious damage control. "To remove any ambiguity about my appearance at yesterday’s Time Person of the Year panel, I want to apologize for my remarks," he tweeted. And then, just in case that wasn't clear enough, he followed that up with: "It was never my intention to equate our banking industry with Hitler and Stalin, two of the most evil, brutal dictators in modern history." more ›

If you've been paying attention to the Internet today, you may have seen some things indicating that it's Food Day. Yes: Food Day. Unlike every other day, in which people subsist only on cigarettes and self-hatred. So, what exactly is Food Day? more ›

After helpless West Village residents reached out to a humble neighborhood alt-weekly about all the limosines idling outside Babbo, the city—nay, the world—waited for a response from The Mario Batali. Taking a break from tweeting Marxist propaganda, Batali wrote, "We are working on it, harmony is possible." No word on how the neighbors are going to take Batali's rumored plans to turn Babbo into "Eataly II: Still Better Than Olive Garden." more ›

Avert your gaze from the rabble on Wall Street to the real victims of the modern economy: highly successful restaurateurs. It's really difficult to manage a restaurant empire when you're getting sued for back pay and lost tips by your staff, says Joe Bastianich, who co-owns Eataly, Babbo, and Del Posto. "Money-hungry lawyers, through frivolous lawsuits, are shaking down the very foundation of Manhattan's restaurant industry," the money-hungry businessman tells the Post. "Someone in Albany needs to understand the agenda, what this is really costing the greatest restaurant city in the world." Despite this harshest of anti-business climates, restaurants in New York City grew by 42% in the last decade. more ›

Ice cream truck troubadour Michael Hearst and his book-rock collective One Ring Zero are back with an upcoming release called The Recipe Project, a book/CD of recipes from famous chefs put to song. David Chang, Mario Batali, and Tom Colicchio are just a few of the big names participating in the project, which will be released this fall. Here's a look at what to expect from Incanto chef Chris Cosentino, whose joyous Beastie Boys-inspired ode to eggs and brains is hilariously insane in the mem-brain: more ›

Today the DOT launched its "highly anticipated" (their words) public service advertising campaign intended to school cyclists on the rules of the road, including always yielding to pedestrians; riding with traffic, not against it; and riding on the street, not on the sidewalks. The campaign is called "Don't Be a Jerk," and seems likely to exacerbate the already hostile attitude toward cyclists seen in the media, in the NYPD's crackdown, and on certain websites' comments sections. Funny enough, one of the ads stars celebrity chef Mario Batali, whom we once watched drive his Vespa in the Prince Street bike lane like a total jerk. So it makes sense that in this video he also portrays the titular "jerk": more ›

Upon walking into Eataly, the mammoth new food experience from Joe Bastianich, Lidia Bastianich, Mario Batali and Oscar Farinetti, you might actually think you were in Italy. Besides the produce, nearly everything is imported, and the 50,000 sq. ft. bi-level space is filled with rows upon rows of dried pasta, nougat, olive oils and anchovies piled 12 feet high. You're welcomed with a smart espresso bar as the space opens into seven "restaurants," 14 food stations and a full "piazza" with a raw bar, fresh-cut prosciutto and marble-top tables. But this is not the Italy most Americans imagine—the Italy of quaint Tuscan towns and pushy grandmothers. This is the Italy of Vespas and stilettos. And as Mario Batali hopes, "It could be the cornerstone of Italian gastronomic culture." more ›

Just days after failing to win the right to continue running a mediocre overpriced tourist trap in a 19th century Central Park sheepfold, Tavern on the Green is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. CEO Jennifer Oz LeRoy tells the Times it's "our only alternative given the current situation." In four months, Central Park Boathouse owner Dean Poll will take over the location, and in the meantime Tavern will attempt to burn appease some 20 creditors, such as the New York Hotel Trades Council, which is owed $1,778,764. Tavern also owes the Parks Department—which declined to renew its lease—$76,923, and one imagines LeRoy's gonna love shrugging off that one. Meanwhile, the dining industry paroxysm is even hammering celebs like Mario Batali—the Crocs-wearing chef was a partner in the far-out seafood restaurant The John Dory, which just went belly up after nine months. The landlord is now suing Batali for $75,000 back rent. Oh, and Café des Artistes, the Lincoln Square restaurant that just closed after 90-plus years, is also jumping on the bankruptcy bandwagon. Expected to be screwed in that filing are the restaurant's employees, who are owed $116,471 in benefits through their union. more ›

Published earlier this month, Sara Barron’s book People are Unappealing, Even Me is what happens to a bildungsroman in the Craigslist age. It follows the author on a mad-as-hell/not-taking-it-anymore complaining spree through the dregs of thankless, low-wage jobs. Along the way, Barron makes several keen observations about the strange things people do, and also manages to canonize John Stamos as “the most flawless man who has ever lived,” which had to be done by somebody. We asked her primarily about a waitress-nightmare story told in one of the book’s chapters, which recently garnered the author some major Page 6 column space: Up until recently, Barron worked at a restaurant not-to-be named (she calls it, simply, “Hell”) where she had the opportunity to wait on a rock star who didn’t tip after an epic and fully comped, after-hours meal (for 19 people total) that dragged on until 5 a.m. No longer a waitress, Barron is the host of The Moth; her next gig is March 30 at The Bitter End. more ›

A report released Tuesday by the Food Bank for New York City has found that approximately four million New Yorkers—one in two—are having trouble paying for groceries, a 26 percent increase since the last survey in February. The Hunger Experience 2008 Update also found that college degrees are increasingly useless protection against indigence; one out of every three (36 percent) NYC college graduates had difficulty affording needed food this year, up from 11 percent in 2003. Lucy Cabrera, the food bank's president, says, "The results of this report are devastating. These numbers should be a wake-up call for all New Yorkers." The Food Bank NYC sources and distributes food to the estimated 1.3 million New Yorkers who rely on emergency food. Today you've got until noon to help the Food Bank by bidding on one of their cool celebrity decorated lunchboxes. (Just please don't outbid us on Mike D's Jacob the Jeweler box.) more ›

The third annual Lunchbox Auction to raise money for the Food Bank for New York City kicked off last night with a celebrity fundraiser at Milk Studios in the Meatpacking District. Also benefiting The Lunchbox Fund of South Africa, the auction features over 77 lunchboxes custom designed by celebrities (and/or their handlers). Among the more eye catching boxes were avant-garde Chicago chef Grant Achatz's abstract deconstruction of a lunchbox, Tony Bennett's painting of a happy pooch (see below), and Michael Stipe's three lunchboxes with bronze cassettes and a camera embedded in molds of chocolate, salt and jello. more ›

Starting today at 10 a.m. Mario Batali and Starbucks be holding court in Times Square. They'll be set up at Military Island (the intersection of Broadway and 7th Avenue between 43rd and 44th Streets) handing out hot cups of (RED) coffee to any caffeine fiend who passes by. (RED) helps raise money to fight AIDS in Africa, and has just partnered with the coffee purveyor. If you don't find yourself in Times Square on Black Friday (consider yourself lucky), you can head to any 'bucks throughout the holiday season and a five cent donation will be made to (RED) with a purchase of a holiday drink. However, Food & Wine points out that at "approximately 10:30, you can have your picture taken in the (RED) photo booth to join the (RED) community, perhaps with one of Mario's helper elves, Helena Christensen and Mary Louise Parker." more ›

Well, we now know why Tom Colicchio wasn't at the New York Taste event last night (as promised); he skipped the shindig to hang with fellow celeb chef Mario Batali at a private dinner at the Rockefeller Center rooftop garden. The event, put together by Absolut, was all about cooking with local ingredients grown on eco-friendly farms, and was hosted by chef Jim Denevan, who runs Outstanding in the Field, a "roving culinary adventure" that promotes the locavore lifestyle. Deborah Greig of East New York Farms in Brooklyn, and Michael Hurwitz, director of the GreenMarket, were also in the house. more ›

As if to exorcise the ghost of a harmonica-playing Bruce Willis, the old Hard Rock Café space has once again been converted into a ‘temporary restaurant’ called the Bon Appétit Supper Club and Café. (It actually has nothing to do with the ghost of Bruno; it's a benefit for Chefs For Humanity) For two weeks, wandering midtown lunchgoers can enjoy menus designed by celebrity chefs and the discerning kitchen of Bon Appétit magazine. Sandwiches (like the Yellowfin Tuna Niçoise number, above) cost $7 or $8, desserts run from $1-$3, and nothing at the café is more than $10. more ›

The fleet of undercover, handlebar mustache-twirling French restaurant “inspectors” have made their rounds through New York’s dining scene, and the results are in. Only four restaurants have been deemed worthy of the Michelin Guide’s top rating (3 stars) this year: Jean Georges, Le Bernadin, Masa, and Per Se. more ›

As you can see from the screenshot on the right, someone has been screwing with random bits of code that comprise the website for Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich’s immensely popular restaurant, Babbo. The end result is empty calories in the form of malicious code that could steal your credit card info or even harness your CPU power in service of cyberevil. more ›

Anne Burrell has "parted amicably" with trendy West Village wine bar/Italian restaurant Centro Vinoteca. As reported earlier, Burrell has been keeping herself extremely busy as of late, primarily with her new Food Network series, Secrets of a Restaurant Chef, which has 13 new episodes coming up. Her appearance on the show (and ostensibly as Mario Batali's sous-chef on Iron Chef America) had also postponed her scheduled start date at Gusto, which was supposed to take place in June. more ›

This month's Bon Appetit features this year's winners of the Bon Appetit awards, which honor leaders in the culinary field. The intimate awards ceremony took place at Del Posto earlier this week, where current and prior winners dined on a seasonal Italian tasting menu created specifically for the occasion. The awards presentations were held between courses, hosted by Ted Allen, who did his best to entertain the crowd. more ›

Okay, so you don't want to go out to watch the game and cooking is not an option. What can you order besides pizza? Plenty, as you already know (hey, we live in New York City, folks!). But we've found some particularly mouthwatering Super Bowl delivery specials, many of which involve pork. Mmmm . . . pork. more ›

Over the weekend, hundreds rallied for Pier 40's next transformation to be a park. This Thursday, the Hudson River Park Trust is meeting to discuss two existing bids for the pier located off Houston Street, but a more recent plan, from a group of local parents who hope their $120,000 study, has been gaining some recent momentum. more ›

There are a number of restaurants opening in 2008 that we've been eagerly awaiting and we thought we'd highlight some that particularly piqued our interest and have us drooling in anticipation. more ›

Attention Pacific Northwest: New Yorkers don't care about your cuisine. None of Jeffrey Chodorow's blogging, full page ads in the Times or other theatrics could save Wild Salmon from its imminent closure. After Eater circulated news of its potential doom, Chodorow issued a statement, published on Grub Street, "Regrettably, we will be closing Wild Salmon after the new year. We were excited about bringing the food and wine of the Pacific Northwest to New York,... more ›

New Amsterdam Public’s Jill Slater and Robert LaValva have organized a one-day test run of a public market at the old Fulton Fish space. Called the Wintermarket, the event is part of the non-profit group’s proposal to create a dedicated market in the Seaport space, which these days makes so much sense that it almost hurts, what with everyone talking about grass-fed this and raw milk that. The concept of sustainable food has no value... more ›