Interview with Mario Batali
May 31, 2007 | 8:33
am
Here is the rest of my phone interview with New York based chef Mario Batali,
winner of the 2005 James Beard Award for "Outstanding Chef of the Year." Earlier
this year he opened two restaurants, B & B and Enoteca San Marco, at the
Venetian:
Richard Abowitz: You have two restaurants that you just opened at the
Venetian this year. How did you go about making each of your restaurants in
Vegas distinctive?
Mario Batali: Well, the B&B one looks understated and not nearly as
outrageously Guido as the rest of the Italian restaurants out there do. The food
is distinctly our style. We have chosen not to copy any real dishes from Italy
although our food tastes more Italian than many others. At Enoteca we decided to
create kind of a cafe style atmosphere very similar to what Wolfgang (Puck) has
done. But I think our food is different. It is less Americanized. Though it is
not traditional Italian, it is very real Italian food.
Q: How do you manage to maintain quality in Vegas while living in New
York?
A: The way we maintain our quality out there, of course, is that we brought
45 people from New York to come with us out there.
Q: How often are you out here?
A: I was there once a week for the first 8 weeks. Now I will be out there
every second or third week.
Q: What has been your biggest surprise about the Vegas market?
A: I think the biggest surprise was that they were not waiting for us as
much as I hoped they were. I think a lot of people have their patterns set from
the year before when they were in Vegas for a convention or a vacation. They
knew where they were going to go before they got there. And, they weren't that
interested in new stuff. But I think once they all try us and discover we are
the real deal, then we will float to the top.
Q: Did you open both restaurants simultaneously?
A: We tried to but it took us about three weeks to open the second
one.
Q: Were you worried about foisting so much on the public at once with two
openings?
A: No, it was really about my time. I felt I could be out there and cover
both of them. In fact, I couldn't. It was risk foolish. Now, I've learned my
lessons. We opened one, and then a month latter the other. I wanted to do it. I
tried to do it. And, I thought I could do it, because we had great team players
at both places. But at the end you can only be one place at one time.
Q: What has been the most positive surprise opening in Vegas?
A: That there are just so many people. It is just wave, after wave, after
wave of people who are in a great mood. It is a delightful vibe you guys have
going on out there and it is a pleasure to be in it.
Q: What has proven the biggest challenge about Vegas?
A: Nothing really. Maybe, that you have so many chefs competing and I
didn't realize we were going to have to elbow a little bit.
Q: What are you going to do?
A: We are going to elbow a little bit.
Q: Any problems getting fresh ingredients out here to the desert?
A: You know what, the Santa Monica Farmers Market is a four hour drive
away. That is one of the most amazing places I have seen in my entire life. And,
a lot of stuff is just driven over in the afternoon.
Q: Why did you put both restaurants in the Venetian? Were they the only
casino you talked with?
A: No, everyone approached us. But they all wanted to do a management deal.
The Venetian was the first one to offer us the opportunity to own a piece of
Vegas. That is what we really wanted to do. I didn't want to work for someone
who would tell me what day I was going to be there. I'll be out there when I
need to be there.
