The gig: Celebrity chef, restaurateur and television personality known for his fresh take on traditional Italian fare and his penchant for wearing orange Crocs. Mario Batali co-owns 15 restaurants in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and New York, including L.A. hot spots Pizzeria Mozza and Osteria Mozza, which he opened with business partners Nancy Silverton and Joe Bastianich.
The ponytailed chef, who can be seen on the Food Network's "Iron Chef America" and other television programs, also touts a line of products including cookbooks and kitchenware.
Education: Graduated from Rutgers University with a double major in Spanish theater and economics. Enrolled in Le Cordon Bleu in London but dropped out after 3 1/2 months, a move he called "another example of my nascent stupidity. You should finish what you do."
First taste: While attending college, Batali got a job as a dishwasher at a pizzeria called Stuff Yer Face. He later became a pizza and stromboli maker, and said the experience got him hooked on the "adrenaline rush" of working in a kitchen.
Learning curve: As a young sous-chef at a London pub, Batali butted heads with renowned chef Marco Pierre White.
"He was a tempest; he was a storm brewing at all times," Batali said. "There's a well-documented incident where he threw a pan of risotto at me from 5 feet away. . . . In his opinion, the risotto wasn't right. I explained to him I was Italian and he was English, but he didn't like that."
Italian flair: After sharpening his skills at several establishments including hotel restaurants and a catering company, Batali headed to Italy when he was 29. For the next three years, he received culinary training as an unpaid cook at a restaurant in the tiny village of Borgo Capanne.
Big break: Batali borrowed $20,000 from three friends to start Po, an Italian restaurant in Manhattan, with business partner Steven Crane. The pair leased a small, 34-seat space for $3,000 a month and bought chairs, tables and other fixtures at a failed-restaurant auction. When Po opened in 1993, the menu featured a six-course prix fixe option for $29 and pasta dishes for $10.
"It was kind of a dreamy, hole-in-the-wall, sneaky Italian place that uptown people would tell some of their friends and not all of them because they didn't want them to discover it," said Batali, who has sold his stake in the restaurant.
Essential ingredient: Extra virgin olive oil. "I use it in just about every single thing I ever make, including desserts."
