Who is Mario Batali from Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-quoting Butcher in T and what is their importance?

Mario Batali became a chef in the eighties after working in a pizza place and learning how exciting restaurants can be. Batali trained at a good cooking school and worked under one of the most well respected chefs in Europe. Batali then returned to America and worked in two of his own restaurants before finally beginning Babbo. Before Babbo, Batali was introduced to an executive from a new television network called the Food Network. Batali had a show on the network called Malto Mario on which he taught viewers to cook some of the popular dishes at his restaurants. As a result, Batali became one of the best known chefs in New York.