Joseph Bastianich (born September 17, 1968) is an American restaurateur, author and television personality. He, along with his mother and business partner Lidia Bastianich, co-owns thirty restaurants in four countries, including Osteria Mozza in Los Angeles, which the owners expanded in 2010. Earlier that same year, they teamed up with businessman Oscar Farinetti to bring Eataly, an upscale food and wine market, to Dallas, Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City, London and Stockholm.

Early life and education

Joseph Bastianich was born on September 17, 1968, in

Astoria, Queens Astoria is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City Boroughs of New York City, borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to four other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City, Queens, Long Island C ...

, to Istrian Italian immigrants Felice and Lidia Bastianich. His parents were born in Istria (Yugoslavia, now Croatia) and moved to the United States in 1958 during the large Istrian exodus. While Italian by nationality, public DNA tests have shown that Joe's family on his mother's side is largely of Eastern European - Yugoslavian and Southeastern European descent. His mother has stated that she feels very Italian, but that she relates to her Slavic roots too. Raised working in his parents' Italian restaurant Felidia in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, he attended

Fordham Preparatory School Fordham Preparatory School (commonly known as Fordham Prep) is an American, independent, boys' college-preparatory school in the Jesuit tradition located on the Rose Hill campus of Fordham University in the Bronx, a borough of New York City. ...

before attending

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

, where he studied and earned a degree in finance.

Career

Restaurateur

After spending a year on

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

as a bond trader, he gave up his newly launched career and ventured into the food industry. He took an extended trip to Italy. In 1993, he opened Becco (Italian for 'peck', 'nibble', 'savor'), an Italian restaurant with his mother, Lidia Bastianich. He then partnered with Mario Batali to open Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca, an Italian restaurant that gained the prestigious three stars from ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', the first Italian restaurant to gain the award in 40 years. Babbo also has earned one

Michelin star The ''Michelin Guides'' ( ; ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The ''Guide'' awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few restaurants in certain geographic ...

. Together they opened seven more restaurants in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

: Lupa, Esca, Casa Mono, Bar Jamon, Otto, Del Posto and Eataly (an Italian marketplace). In 2010, Del Posto received a four star review from ''

,'' one of only five restaurants in

to win that award. Their culinary empire has expanded to 10 restaurants in New York, four restaurants in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, three restaurants in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, two restaurants in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, one Italian market in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, one Italian market in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, one Italian market in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and two restaurants in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. After being accused of sexual harassment, Batali gave up his restaurants, selling his shares to Bastianich and his sister Tanya Bastianich Manuali. Otto Enoteca Pizzeria closed during the coronavirus pandemic. When it closed, '' TimeOut'' wrote "it was the type of place that was nice yet casual enough to go on any night of the week with plenty of tables the white marble-covered enoteca (offering wine, cheese and

salumi (: , ) are Italian cuisine, Italian meat products typical of an antipasto, predominantly made from pork and Curing (food preservation), cured. They also include bresaola, which is made from beef, and some cooked products, such as mortadell ...

) and the more formal dining area focusing on pastas and pizzas. We'll also miss the olive oil gelato." Bastianich has co-authored two award-winning books on Italian wine, and his memoir, ''Restaurant Man'', became a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' Best Seller within a week of its release in May 2012.

Television

Bastianich was a judge on the American ''

MasterChef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking show television format created by Franc Roddam, which originated with MasterChef (British TV series), the British version in July 1990. The show aims to discover the culinary talent of chefs of varying sk ...

'' series broadcast by Fox until it took too much of his time, and '' MasterChef Junior'' until he was replaced on both series by Christina Tosi in the spring of 2015 after he exited the franchise in November 2014. However, he eventually returned to temporarily judge Season 6 of ''MasterChef Junior'' on March 2, 2018 and has returned to the judging panel as a full-time judge on ''MasterChef'' since Season 9 in June 2018''.'' He was also a judge on the Italian version of the program. '' MasterChef Italia'' shown on Sky Uno for its first 8 seasons. In May 2019, Bastianich announced his departure from MasterChef Italia in order to dedicate himself to his passion for music. In mid-September of the same year, Bastianich released his first album, titled "Aka Joe". In late January 2020, he will star in a musical concert tour around Italy, featuring his "New York Stories" album. He has also guest starred as a guest judge on '' MasterChef Canada'' on Season 1, Episode 14. He co-starred alongside Tim Love and Antonia Lofaso in the American reality show '' Restaurant Startup'' on

CNBC CNBC is an American List of business news channels, business news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group, a unit of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The network broadcasts live business news and analysis programming during the morning, Day ...

, for which he is the executive producer along with

Endemol Shine North America Endemol Shine North America (stylized as EndemolShine NorthAmerica) is the American division of Banijay Entertainment that was founded on March 15, 2012, as a merger of Shine Americas, Shine USA, and Reveille Productions. Endemol Shine North Ame ...

. Bastianich also made a special appearance in the 2015 television film '' An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success'' as a judge in a fictional season of ''MasterChef Junior''. From March 22, 2016, he presented, with Guido Meda and Davide Valsecchi, the first edition of

Top Gear Italia ''Top Gear Italia'' is an Italian motoring show, which was first broadcast on 22 March 2016 on Sky Uno. It is an international version of the British BBC Two motoring show, '' Top Gear''. This version of the show is presented by Davide Valsecch ...

. He also served as a judge on the judging panel of Italia's Got Talent and Family Food Fight Italia, airing on Sky Uno in the spring of 2020. In a 2018 episode of '' MasterChef Italia'', Bastianich made several jokes at the expense of Chinese men to Asian women giving him a manicure and pedicure at a beauty salon in Milan's

Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...

. When asked by the blog Grub Street for comment, Bastianich responded that "this was a scripted segment shot in a Milan nail salon that I've gone to regularly. I know the women, and we were given the questions to discuss in advance. That said, it's clear that some of what I said was in poor taste and not reflective of my views. I'm sorry I said those things." In 2024, Bastianich competed in season 11 of '' The Masked Singer'' as "Spaghetti & Meatballs". He was eliminated on "

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...

Night".

Restaurants

Batali and Bastianich Hospitality Group own several restaurants mostly in New York City and Los Angeles, including Becco in NYC, Chi Spacca and Osteria Mozza in Los Angeles. * BABBO Ristorante e Enoteca, New York City * Bar Jamon, New York City * Becco, New York City * Birreria, New York City * Casa Mono, New York City * Chi Spacca, Los Angeles * Eataly, New York City * ESCA, New York City * Lidia's, Kansas City, Missouri * LUPA, New York City * Mozza2Go, Los Angeles, California * Orsone, Cividale del Friuli (Frazione Gagliano), Italy * Joe's American BBQ, Milan, Italy * Osteria Mozza, Los Angeles, California * Pizzeria Mozza, Los Angeles, California / Newport Beach, California * Tarry Wine, Port Chester * Tarry Lodge, Port Chester (closed) / Westport, Connecticut * Tarry Lodge, New Haven, Connecticut

Personal life

Marriage and family

Bastianich lives in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, with his wife, Deanna, and their children, Olivia, Ethan, and Miles. He speaks

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Legal issues

Starting in 2015, several employees at Batali & Bastianich alleged

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment based on the sex or gender of a victim. It can involve offensive sexist or sexual behavior, verbal or physical actions, up to bribery, coercion, and assault. Harassment may be explicit or implicit, wit ...

against Mario Batali. The

Attorney General of New York The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and head of the Department of Law of the government of New York (state), state government. The office has existed in various forms since ...

subsequently began an investigation and found a culture of widespread sexual harassment and retaliation at the Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group. In March 2019, Batali surrendered ownership of his stakes in Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group, a partnership between Batali and the Bastianich family, including Joe and Lidia Bastianich. In 2019, Bastianich and Batali reached a $600,000 sexual harassment settlement to at least 20 former employees. The Bastianiches said in 2019 that B&B Hospitality Group's name will change, and by July 2019, it had changed to Pasta Resources.

Filmography

Television

Bibliography

* 2015. ''Healthy Pasta: The Sexy, Skinny, and Smart Way to Eat Your Favorite Food''. (Knopf) * 2014. ''Giuseppino. Da New York all'Italia: storia del mio ritorno a casa''. (Potter) * 2013. ''Restaurant Man''. (Knopf) * 2010. ''Grandi Vini: An Opinionated Tour of Italy's 89 Finest Wines''. (Potter) * 2005. ''Vino Italiano: The Regional Wines of Italy''. (Potter)

References

External links

Official website

Bio from Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bastianich, Joseph 1968 births Living people American expatriates in Italy American financial traders American food writers American investors American memoirists American people of Italian descent American restaurateurs American people in the wine industry Fordham Preparatory School alumni Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences alumni Businesspeople from Greenwich, Connecticut Businesspeople from Queens, New York Merrill (company) people Judges in American reality television series Participants in Italian reality television series People from Astoria, Queens Television producers from New York City Writers from Greenwich, Connecticut Writers from Queens, New York Eataly people