Mario Batalli and Nascar. I never would have guessed that.
Last week SI associate editor Richard Deitsch interviewed celebrity chef Mario Batali (
http://www.mariobatali.com/) for the magazine's Q&A. Batali is writing Mario Tailgates NASCAR Style, a cookbook that will be published in the spring of 2006. Here is are additional excerpts from the interview.
SI: Are food people as passionate about food as sports fans are about sports? Batali: Absolutely, but sports fans have the edge. I know people that can tell you just about every at-bat Ken Griffey Jr. has had since he was 17. People just don't follow food as intensely.
SI: What can NASCAR fans expect from this cookbook?
Batali: It'll be two-fold: They'll be Italian stuff and Classic American. It tells you how to make simple, delicious food that is good for you in a tailgate setting as opposed to traditional bratwursts and steaks and hamburgers.
SI: How much are your competitive juices flowing during the Food Network's Iron Chef America?
Batali: About 110 percent. That is the only, truly competitive thing I do all year. Not only are the competitive juices flowing, but also the fear.
snip~~
SI: What are your earliest memory of NASCAR?
Batali: Well, my first memories of car racing in general was the Seattle International Raceway. Back in the early '70s I used to watch drag races with Don "The Snake" Prudhomme. I met him this year at a NASCAR event in Pocono and he doesn't look liked he's aged a day.
SI: So how did your involvement with NASCAR come about?
Batali: I work with a group -- Dyno Marketing --- that consists of a couple of guys I went to Rutgers with. They do advertising for the NASCAR group. They asked if I wanted to come and check NASCAR out. Last year I went to Dover and we made dinner for just the drivers. It was a no-press event so they had a really relaxing time. Then I did it again at the Pocano 500. Now I'm starting to get to know these guys and they are good 'ol boys and a lot of fun. They're people who like food, so we get along really well.
SI: What did you serve at Dover?
Batali: At Dover we did sausage and peppers, a big Caesar salad, baked pasta, gelato and strawberries. This year at the Pocono 500, we did polenta, shrimp scampi, barbecue brisket, ribs, skirt steak, braciole and berries with zabaglione.
snip~~
SI: Do you see you any parallels between a NASCAR crew chief and a chef? Batali: Absolutely. The crew chief knows everything that's going on every second of the race. They are so on top of it. And a chef who is good is on that same level.
SI: Your restaurant, Otto Enoteca Pizzeria, has become a hangout for NASCAR drivers. How did that come about?
Batali: Last year, during NASCAR Week, there were a couple of big get-together's at our place. I had told the drivers to come and check the place out and I think they liked it. I think that's interesting for those guys to go into a place where they are not so recognized that they get bothered and chased around. Otto does not have a huge NASCAR fan base as its regular customer base so these guys, who are generally mobbed wherever they go, they are kind of left to themselves.
SI: Did you practice waving the green flag as the honorary starter for the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway.
Batali: Dude, the night before, four guys gave me lessons on how to do it. The whole trick is to have your left hand down. Then you hold the guys back, then point to two guys in the front row, and drop the flag. I practiced for three hours.
SI: Are your orange clogs comfortable walking around the garage?
Batali: Absolutely, although I'm not sure if they allow too many people in the pits with open-toe shoes. But mine are not open-toed. They just have holes.
SI: What would happen if one of your chefs pulled a Terrell Owens and threatened to hold out for more money?
Batali: We have a policy of trying to precede people's requests for raises by giving them raises before they ask for them. But if someone was really talented and holding out for money I'd say. "Why don't you invest some money and we'll open a restaurant together?"
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/richard_deitsch/12/01/media.circus/index.html
