Joe B's Restaurant Man Hits Shelves Today

Joe Bastianich is adding another book to his list of accomplishments today with the publication of Restaurant Man.  In his new, cut-to-the-chase memoir, Joe takes us back to his college days and his year on Wall Street, before he set out to work at restaurants and vineyards in Italy.  The book is a personal, candid, curse word-infused account of becoming one of the most successful restauranteurs in the world.

In addition to feuds that have already gone public, the book talks about Del Posto's struggle to land its fourth star and Joe's eventual partnership with Mario Batali that has lead to one of the most signifiant movements in Italian cuisine.

Green is the New Orange this Earth Day

To celebrate Earth Day and to help raise awareness, all of Batali and Bastianich's restaurants will be offering dishes that help to maintain a low carbon footprint.

Carbon footprints are an estimate of how much carbon dioxide, or green house gas (GHG), is produced to support a lifestyle.  Raising and slaughtering livestock, growing and harvesting grains, fruits, and vegetables, and transporting these foods (over 800 million tons anually) to the global marketplace expends a tremendous amount of energy.  Attempts to cut back on this energy expenditure is why words like "local" and "sustainable" have become commonplace on today's restaurant menus.  Once the food arrives at its destination, whether it is a home or restaurant, the preparation has further effects on carbon output.  This understanding is why B&B leads a company-wide effort to reduce their footprint.

Earth Day is a chance to shine a light on the green sensibilities that run rampant in B&B restaurants on a daily basis.  Each restaurant in the Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group is a Green Certified restaurant, a certification that comes from earning points in seven environmental categories, including water conservation, food sustainability, and chemical waste and pollution reduction.  To further reduce their carbon footprint, B&B chefs are competing amongst themselves to see who can come up with the best Earth Day dish, considering products that are pesticide free, local, and use minimal packaging.

Check out any of their restaurants Sunday, Vegas and L.A. locations included, to see what the chefs come up with.  If you do, B&BHG will throw in a custom packet of organic Cherry Belle radish seeds that double as a two for one promo to visit The New York Botanical Garden this summer.

Will Chicago be Home to the Second U.S. Eataly?

Grant Achatz was recently in New York looking for a place to call home for his Chicago cocktail bar The Aviary.  To keep the culinary world spinning on its axis, Joe Bastianich went to Chicago looking for a space to expand the Eataly empire. 

It's sort of like Monopoly, would the Chicago location offer free parking??