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.
Planet Green: Do you think that big ecological and environmental changes -- like those we'll see with the oil spill -- will affect the way people think about food? Will it affect their eating habits? How about yours?
JB: I think that people will realize that seafood is a precious commodity, a limited resource, and needs to be respected- as all food sources should be. We have to better manage the gifts we've been given, and take care not create situations that leave us vulnerable to wiping out something of such value, both financially to the fishing communities who depend on the industry to sustain their livelihood, and the seafood itself for the culinary treasures that they are. I'm sure for many this has been a wakeup call.
PG: What can people order and eat to support the people of this region?
JB: Those who want to help support the region should patronize restaurants that support the Gulf in its efforts to make a comeback-do a Google search, and you'll start to find local restaurants that are doing what they can to serve food from this area that is safe to eat, and we need to trust our governing agencies when they deem seafood from these areas safe for consumption.
PG: There's a lot of concern that seafood from the Gulf will take years, or maybe decades, to recover. What do you tell people who are concerned that Gulf seafood classics like oysters, shrimp, and catfish might be off the menu for a long time?
JB: I'm optimistic that this region will come back-in a big way. The gulf and the bounty of food it has always provided us with is a cherished part of the American landscape- I think people will intervene as best they can to help revive the area.
