Mario Batali Puts Something New In Your Paella

I should be blogging about Top Chef...especially right before the season finale. While my enthusiasm for the show has waned only a little bit, my enthusiasm for blogging about it is almost nil. This supposed to be a travel blog, yet our (the family, not the third person usage) traveling has been limited somewhat, and so has dining out experiences by some limits here and there to our budget.

So what is left to blog about? How about Mario Batali?

Don't get me wrong, I love Batali as both a cook and TV personality. His shows on the Food Network were often the only sound shows from a culinary standpoint, on a per episode basis. Alton Brown enjoyed going off on odd tangents and putting mustard where it definitely didn't belong. Rachael Ray? Don't get me started. Emeril was guilty as Rachael sometimes, of making dishes that made you question if they had actually tasted their efforts before conception or even after the shows.

Mario made good, solid Italian dishes throughout on all of his non-Iron Chef appearances and when the Food Network got rid of Anthony Bourdain, Batali's shows were often the only ones I would watch on Food Network for months after.

Yet, on the other hand, the man has his own line of Crocs...

Okay, I'll let that one go, yet he wears them with suits, too...

That is a negative, to say the least.

Even this salmon is saying, "Mario, give the Crocs a rest." So when I read this about Mario this morning-

The Associated Press

CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- The king and queen of Spain got a dash of profanity from celebrity chef Mario Batali at a $1,000-a-plate dinner during the South Beach Wine & Food Festival. At a Thursday dinner honoring Spain's growing international culinary presence, Batali dropped some royally naughty words as he hosted the event in the presence of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia.

Growing impatient when the crowd didn't quiet down quickly enough after he stepped to the microphone, he used the f-word and asked the audience if he could have "10 seconds of your time."

Batali dropped the f-bomb again while introducing chef Jose Andres, whose Los Angeles restaurant, The Bazaar, has been heralded by critics. He finished by grabbing Andres' bottom.
Those seated near the royal couple said the queen blanched. Gloria Estefan chortled. And Andres kept his cool.

"This is what food and wine from Spain will do to you," he explained.

Well, I love it when royalty blanches, though that was kind of crass. I'm also guessing from the f-bombs and groping, that it had a lot more to do with the wine of Spain, than the food.

The final verdict? Mario, keep doing what you're doing, keep your hands to yourself and please, lose the Crocs.