Taste of Mario Box Set »

Raised in Seattle, Mario Batali followed an initial career path that had him studying Spanish theater at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Soon after graduating, he began his culinary training at Le Cordon Bleu in London, from which he withdrew almost immediately due to a “lack of interest.” An apprenticeship with London’s legendary chef Marco Pierre White and training in an Italian village gave him the essential skills and knowledge to return to the United States to begin his restaurant empire.

With his partner Joe Bastianich, Batali operates eight New York City hot spots, the flagship of which is Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca, where he has seamlessly combined traditional principles with intelligent culinary adventure since 1998. The James Beard Foundation honored Babbo with the Best New Restaurant award and The New York Times gave it three stars, as well as later to Del Posto, another formal dining establishment. Batali and Bastianich also own the Roman-style trattoria Lupa, the southern Italian seafood trattoria Esca, Otto Enoteca Pizzeria, the Spanish tapas bar Bar Jamon, the Spanish taverna Casa Mono, and the wine shop Italian Wine Merchants. And Batali is a new partner of the Spotted Pig. In Las Vegas, Batali and Bastianich opened B&B Ristorante and the more casual Enoteca San Marco at the Venetian Hotel, and a steakhouse also opened there in early 2008. They have also joined forces with Nancy Silverton for the recently opened Pizzeria Mozza and Osteria Mozza in Los Angeles.

Batali has hosted his own TV programs, Molto Mario, Mario Eats Italy, and Ciao America with Mario Batali, and he has appeared on Iron Chef America on the Food Network. He has also appeared on Mark Bittman’s PBS show, The Best Recipes in the World, and the Sundance Channel’s Iconoclasts, with Michael Stipe. He has five cookbooks: Simple Italian Food, Mario Batali Holiday Food, The Babbo Cookbook, and most recently, Molto Italiano, winner of the James Beard Award for International Cookbook, as well as Mario Tailgates NASCAR Style. In 2006 Bill Buford published Heat, the book that takes you behind the scenes in Batali’s kitchen. Among his many culinary accolades, Batali was named Man of the Year in the Chef category by GQ magazine, and from the James Beard Foundation, both Best Chef: New York City and Outstanding Chef of the Year. Since 2003, Batali has been a vital part of the Food Bank, serving on its board and participating in numerous hunger awareness campaigns.

Batali lives in New York City with his wife Susi Cahn of Coach Dairy Goat Farm and their two sons.

The only mandatory Italian cookbook for the home cook, Mario Batali's Molto Italiano is rich in local lore, with Batali's humorous and enthusiastic voice, familiar to those who have come to know him on his popular Food Network programs, larded through about 220 recipes of simple, healthy, seasonal Italian cooking for the American audience.

Easy to use and simple to read, some of these recipes will be those "as seen" on TV in the eight years of "Molto Mario" programs on the Food Network, including those from "Mediterranean Mario," "Mario Eats Italy," and the all–new "Ciao America with Mario Batali." Batali's distinctive voice will provide a historical and cultural perspective with a humorous bent to demystify even the more elaborate dishes as well as showing ways to shorten or simplify everything from the purchasing of good ingredients to pre–production and countdown schedules of holiday meals. Informative head notes will include bits about the provenance of the recipes and the odd historical fact.

Mario Batali's Molto Italiano will feature ten soups, thirty antipasti (many vegetarian or vegetable based), forty pasta dishes representing many of the twenty–one regions of Italy, twenty fish and shellfish dishes, twenty chicken dishes, twenty pork or lamb dishes and twenty side dishes, each of which can be served as a light meal. Add twenty desserts and a foundation of basic formation recipes and this book will be the only Italian cooking book needed in the home cook's library.

Easy to use and filled with simple recipes, Mario Batali's Italian Grill takes the mystery out of making tasty, simple, smoky Italian food. In addition to the eighty recipes and the sixty full-color photographs, Italian Grill includes helpful information on different heat-source options, grilling techniques, and essential equipment. As in Molto Italiano, Batali's distinctive voice provides a historical and cultural perspective as well.

Italian Grill features appetizers; pizza and flatbreads; fish and shellfish; poultry; meat; and vegetables. The delicious recipes include Fennel with Sambuca and Grapefruit; Guinea Hen Breasts with Rosemary and Pesto; Baby Octopus with Gigante Beans and Olive-Orange Vinaigrette; and Rosticciana, Italian-Style Ribs.

These two must-have Italian cookbooks, collected here in this beautiful, exclusive Barnes & Noble gift set, are essential additions to any home cook’s library.