OSCAR FARINETTI

Oscar Farinetti is the founder and creator of Eataly. Mr. Farinetti got his start at UniEuro in 1978, a small appliance and food retail store. He focused on electronics and transformed UniEuro into one of the largest electronics retailers in Italy, opening 150 stores from 1978 to 2003. In 2003, he sold UniEuro and dedicated himself full time to Eataly. In January 2007, he opened a 30,000 square‐foot store in Turin, Italy, that joins elements of the lively European open market and a learning center. Mr. Farinetti’s aim is to make high‐quality Italian foods available to everyone, at fair prices and in an environment where people can shop, eat and learn.

MARIO BATALI

With fifteen restaurants, eight cookbooks and a host of television shows, including the ever-popular Iron Chef America, Mario Batali is arguably one of the most recognized and respected chefs working in America today. This, combined with his larger-than-life personality is the reason that he has received accolades like GQ Magazine’s Man of the Year and the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef.

Mario and his business partner Joe Bastianich own fifteen restaurants across the country including their flagship New York City restaurant Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca, as well as two restaurants in Los Angeles and three in Las Vegas. The duo’s latest venture is Eataly NY.

Mario is also the author of eight cookbooks including the James Beard Award Winning, Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes (Ecco 2005) and the New York Times Bestsellers Mario Batali Italian Grill (Ecco 2007) and Spain…A Culinary Road Trip (Ecco 2008), his the companion book to the prime-time PBS series Spain…On The Road Again. His latest, Molto Gusto (Ecco 2010), is available now and can be purchased at Eataly NY. This past fall, his app for iPhone and iPad was released. MarioCooks! blends the best features of Mario’s cookbooks with unique and extensive video content.

Mario started the Mario Batali Foundation in May of 2008. The mission of the Mario Batali Foundation is to feed, protect, educate and empower children. To learn more Mario’s mission, visit www.mariobatalifoundation.org. Mario splits his time between New York City’s Greenwich Village and northern Michigan with his wife and their two sons. For more information on Mario and his many projects visit www.mariobatali.com.

LIDIA BASTIANICH

Lidia Bastianich is one of the best-loved chefs on television, a best-selling cookbook author, restaurateur, and owner of a flourishing food and entertainment business. Her cookbooks include Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy and Lidia’s Italy – both companion books to the Emmy-nominated television series, Lidia’s Italy, as well as Lidia’s Family Table, Lidia’s Italian- American Kitchen, Lidia’s Italian Table and La Cucina di Lidia. Lidia is the chef/owner of four acclaimed New York City restaurants — Felidia, Becco, Esca and Del Posto, as well as Lidia’s in Pittsburgh and Kansas City. She is also founder and president of Tavola Productions, an entertainment company that produces high-quality broadcast productions including Lidia’s Italy.

In addition, Lidia has developed her own line of all-natural pasta sauces and traditionally-made pasta, both sold nationally and at Eataly NY. This fall, Lidia will release her first children’s book, soon to be a holiday classic, Nonna Tell Me a Story: Lidia’s Christmas Kitchen.

JOE BASTIANICH

After studying finance and spending a year on Wall Street, Joe bought a one-way ticket to Italy and explored the country’s small corners, keeping food and wine a top priority. He came back to New York and opened Becco with his mother, Lidia Bastianich, and then partnered with Mario Batali to open Babbo, which garnered three coveted stars from the New York Times and the prestigious Best New Restaurant in America award from the James Beard Foundation — indeed, the prophetic beginning of their thriving collection of restaurants. Joe is also a passionate wine-maker, teacher, and author. His books on Italian wine, Vino Italiano, and its companion buying guide, written with sommelier and journalist David Lynch, are recognized as the ne plus ultra of the genre. Slated for release this fall, his third book, Grandi Vini, an opinionated tour of Italy’s 89 finest wines, will no doubt be the go-to source for the best Italy has to offer. In 2005 he was recognized as an Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional by both the James Beard Foundation and Bon Appétit, and in 2008 he and Mario were awarded the James Beard Foundation’s Outstanding Restaurateur Award. He is currently a judge on FOX’s reality TV hit, MasterChef, with Gordon Ramsay and Graham Elliot, where he shares his expertise in deciphering culinary talent from amongst thousands of amateur home cooks. Joe feels fortunate to be “working within the vernacular of the Italian table.”

SLOW FOOD

Slow Food is a consultant for Eataly, controlling and verifying that our producers do not compromise the quality of their products to satisfy a growing demand.

“We consider ourselves co-producers, not consumers, because by being informed about how our food is produced and actively supporting those who produce it, we become a part of and a partner in the production process.”

Slow Food is a non-profit, eco-gastronomic member-supported organization that was founded in Turin, Italy in 1989 by Carlo Petrini to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.

Slow Food runs with the belief that everyone has a fundamental right to pleasure and consequently the responsibility to protect the heritage of food, tradition and culture that make this pleasure possible. The slow food movement is founded upon this concept of eco-gastronomy – recognition of the strong connections between plate and planet.

Today, there are over 100,000 members in 132 countries. It operates around the world with projects to defend local food traditions, protect local biodiversity and promote small-scale quality products, with an increasing focus on investments in countries of the Global South. Slow Food is good, clean and fair food.

• Good: The food that we eat should taste good;
• Clean: The food that we eat should be produced in a clean way that does not harm the environment, animal welfare or our health;
• Fair: Food producers should receive fair compensation for their work.