Bay Ridge

Mario Batali visits The BookMark Shoppe

Brooklyn BookBeat: Renowned Chef signs copies of his new book in Bay Ridge

October 21, 2016 By John Alexander Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Photo: Mario Batali, Ted Nugent, Michael Esposito, Chef Carlos. Caption: (L-R) Mario Batali, Cebu Restaurant owners Ted Nugent and Michael Esposito, Chef Carlos
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World-famous culinary star and restauranteur Mario Batali stopped by The BookMark Shoppe in Bay Ridge on Saturday to meet his fans and sign copies of his new book. “Big American Cookbook” includes 250 of Batali’s favorite recipes from across the USA.

The BookMark Shoppe owner Christine Freglette welcomed Batali to the mom-and-pop and pop shop that offers customers personal attention and exceptional service.  Michael Esposito and Ted Nugent from neighborhood favorite restaurant Cebu, provided the food for the event.

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Batali, the affable media celebrity and host of “The Chew,” is a New York Times bestselling author whose works include “Mario Batali Simple Italian Food: Recipes from My Two Villages,” “Mario Batali Holiday Food: Family Recipes for the most Festive Time of the Year” and “Molto Batali: Simple Family Meals from My Home to Yours.”

He has won numerous awards and was named “Man of the Year” in the chef category by GQ Magazine in 1999. In 2002, he won the James Beard Foundation’s “Best Chef: New York City” award, and in 2005, the James Beard Foundation awarded him the designation “Outstanding Chef of the Year.”

He owns and operates restaurants all across the country including ESCA, Bar Jamon and LUPA in New York City. He has also opened restaurants in Singapore.

Batali has appeared on popular television series, such as “Molto Mario,”
“Mario Eats Italy,” and “Iron Chef America: Battle of the Masters.” He is also a noted philanthropist whose Mario Batali Foundation helps ensure that all children are well read, well-fed and well-cared for. He also supports The Lunchbox Fund, which fosters education via nutrition, and the hunger relief organization Food Bank for New York City.

Batali who had visited the neighborhood before, said it was an honor to be back in Bay Ridge, and he called Brooklyn “the epicenter of hip.” He told the Brooklyn Eagle that “Brooklyn is one of the greatest Italian neighborhoods in the entire country. It’s where my base lives and where I like to come. It’s where my kids went to high school. My kids went to the Berkeley Carroll School and Packer Institute. If you want to go to watch baseball, you come to see the Cyclones. If you want to go on a roller-coaster, you come to Brooklyn to Coney Island.”

“I think Brooklyn is cool, it’s fun, it’s groovy,” he continued. “It’s got everything from hipsters making pickles to Vice’s headquarters (Vice Media is now located in the iconic Domino Sugar plant in Williamsburg), to the Promenade.  I mean, it’s got everything, everything. Brooklyn is just a fantastic place.”

 


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