DCL
As part of our coverage of Blue August, Planet Green is interviewing chefs around the country to get their takes on the Gulf Oil Spill and how it might affect the future of the region's vibrant food culture. This is the tenth interview in the series; read all the interviews for more.
Beginning with almost Dickensian roots, working in his parents Felice and Lidia's Italian restaurant in Queens, washing dishes, cleaning the sidewalk, and touring the jungle-like meat markets of the Bronx, Joe Bastianich's life charts a culinary adventure that ends with this nice Italian boy becoming one of America's premier restaurateurs — as well as a noted winemaker, bon vivant, street-level philosopher, and eventually, a marathon runner.
After a stint on Wall Street, an extended trip to Italy, and a restaurant partnership with his mother, Lidia, Joe became partners with the irrepressible Mario Batali, and is now the less-publicly-vociferous power behind some of New York's most well-regarded restaurants, including the legendary Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca, Lupa Osteria Romana, Esca, Casa Mono, Bar Jam, Otto Enoteca Pizzeria and the much storied Del Posto. He sat down (with a glass of wine, of course) to talk about how he sees the Gulf Oil Spill affecting the country and food world at large.
