Michael Stuart "Mike" Symon (born 21 February 1965), Australian politician, was elected as the new Australian Labor Party member for the federal seat of Deakin in the Australian House of Representatives at the 2007 federal election.^[1] He was previously an electrician and Occupational Health and Safety Officer of the Electrical Trades Union.^[2] He defeated the sitting Liberal member, Phil Barresi, who had held the seat since 1996.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Personal website
• Australian Parliament biography

Michael D. Symon (born September 19, 1969) is a James Beard Foundation Award-winning American chef,^[1] restaurateur, television personality, and author. He is seen regularly on Food Network on shows such as Iron Chef America, Food Feuds, and The Best Thing I Ever Ate, as well as Cook Like an Iron Chef on the Cooking Channel and The Chew on ABC. He has also made numerous contributions to magazines and periodicals such as Bon Appétit, Esquire, Food Arts, Gourmet, Saveur and O, The Oprah Magazine.

Symon is credited as helping to "save" the restaurant scene in Downtown Cleveland.^[2] He is the chef and owner of number of restaurants in the Greater Cleveland area, including his flagship Lola, Lolita, and The B Spot. Additionally, he owns Michael Symon's Roast (also known as Roast) in Detroit, Michigan. Symon describes his cooking as "meat-centric."^[3]

Early life[link]

Symon was born in Cleveland, Ohio^[4] and is of Greek, Italian, and Eastern European ancestry.^[5][3][6] He was raised in North Olmsted, Ohio, attending St. Richard School in North Olmsted and St. Edward High School in Lakewood, graduating in 1987. A wrestler, he broke an arm during practice and was unable to continue competing. He took a part time job at Gepetto's Ribs on Warren Rd. as a cook.^[7]

He graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York in 1990.

Career[link]

Chef and restaurateur[link]

Symon worked the Cleveland restaurant scene, working at Player's, a Mediterranean restaurant in Lakewood. In 1993, he moved to Piccolo Mondo as chef, developing a small yet devoted following. He subsequently moved to Caxton Cafe.

Lola's patio on East 4th Street in downtown Cleveland

In February 1997, Michael and his then-fiancée (now wife), Liz Shanahan, opened Lola in Cleveland's trendy Tremont neighborhood. It is named after his aunt. The restaurant garnered rave reviews and was named one of America's Best Restaurants in Gourmet magazine in its October 2000 issue.^[8] In 2005, he converted Lola into Lolita,^[9] and reopened Lola in downtown Cleveland the next year.

On April 15, 2006, Symon opened a third restaurant, Parea, which in Greek means "a group of friends" or "company," in New York City.^[10] The restaurant, which featured upscale Greek food and was located on East 20th Street near Park Avenue, was run by Jonathon Sawyer, who tutored under Symon at Lolita. It was located next door to Gramercy Tavern. Symon partnered with Telly Hatzigeorgiou, George Pantelidis, and Peter J. Pappas.^[11] Although he gave the food a 2-stars rating (very good), New York Times food critic Frank Bruni noted that the sound level reached "piercing heights."^[12] By many accounts, the food was good, as the restaurant was even listed on "100 Tastes to Try in ’07" in Food & Wine magazine.^[13] However, the New York restaurant scene considered his flavors not "vibrant" enough, and it was chided that it "might improve after Mr. Symon gets more experience in the New York restaurant world."^[14] It closed in 2007, and was acquired by Stavros Aktipis who renamed it Kellari's Parea.

Symon opened Roast, a restaurant at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel in Detroit, Michigan in autumn 2008.^[3] Roast was named the 2009 Restaurant of the Year by the Detroit Free Press.^[15]

He opened a restaurant on July 1, 2009, called Bar Symon in Avon Lake, Ohio featuring casual concepts on tavern food. Soon after, he opened a similarly themed restaurant named B Spot in Woodmere, Ohio.

In October 2009, the Cleveland Cavaliers announced that Symon would contribute menu items to be prepared by foodservice firm Aramark at the Quicken Loans Arena. Two existing restaurants were renamed after Symon's bar-bistros, Bar Symon and The B-Spot, and some of his signature dishes were made available as suite catering offerings.^[16]

On October 19, 2010, Symon announced that he would be closing the Avon Lake location of Bar Symon.^[17] He later announced two more The B Spot locations, one in Strongsville (opened April 6, 2011) and another in Westlake (late 2011).^[18]

Media appearances[link]

He often appears on behalf of Food Network. During the summer of 2009, he promoted the Food Network's videogame Cook Or Be Cooked for Nintendo Wii, which was released on November 3, 2009.^[19][20]

Symon was one of the rotating hosts of Food Network's show Melting Pot. He appeared on Sara's Secrets with Sara Moulton, Ready, Set, Cook, and FoodNation with Bobby Flay. In 2005, he appeared on Iron Chef America, where he lost to Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto in Battle Asparagus.^[21]

On August 27, 2007, Symon appeared in the "Cleveland, OH" episode of the television series Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.

While competing in the reality competition TV series The Next Iron Chef, he reported on his experiences for Fortune, posted on CNN Money.^[22] On November 11, 2007, after a head-to-head match against John Besh, Symon was declared the winner of the entire competition. On November 18, 2007, Symon won his first battle on Iron Chef America.^[23]

On April 21, 2008, the Food Network announced that Symon would take over as host of Dinner: Impossible, the network's third most popular show.^[24] He hosted the show for ten episodes until host Robert Irvine was reinstated. Although it was not announced publicly, Symon knew it was a temporary gig "from the start."^[25]

He appeared along with several other Food Network stars on Dear Food Network: Thanksgiving Disasters, a program dealing with dinner mishaps which first aired November 17, 2008.^[26] He appeared in the very first episode of the network's The Best Thing I Ever Ate, which featured his restaurant Lolita.

Cook Like an Iron Chef, a Cooking Channel show starring Symon, debuted in July 2010. He described it as "a show for the people who've watched Food Network forever and are ready to learn something more advanced or more creative."^[27]

Symon's latest show, Food Feuds, premiered October 10, 2010. He travels to various locales and performs a direct comparison competition between local food rivals.

Symon works as a "spokeschef," representing cookware companies Vita-Mix and Calphalon, appearing at housewares shows and other demonstration events.^[28]

On February 14, 2011, Symon appeared in a skit on the late-night talk show Conan, in which a young couple had won a "romantic" Valentine's Day dinner date on the set. Conan O'Brien announced that Symon would be presenting them with their dinner—which he did, in the form of a Taco Party Pack from Taco Bell.^[29]

He currently serves as co host of ABC networks The Chew cooking show on Daytime Tv weekdays

Books[link]

Symon was featured in fellow Clevelander Michael Ruhlman's 2001 book, The Soul of a Chef: The Journey Toward Perfection. The second part of the three-part book focuses on Symon's quest for culinary perfection.

In 2009, Symon collaborated with Ruhlman to write his first cookbook, Michael Symon's Live to Cook: Recipes and Techniques to Rock Your Kitchen (ISBN 978-0307453655). The foreword is written by fellow Iron Chef Bobby Flay. It was published by Clarkson Potter and was released on November 3, 2009.

Product Line[link]

In 2011, Michael partnered with kitchenware company Weston Products on his official specialty kitchen product line, the Michael Symon Live to Cook Collection by Weston.^[30]

Awards and honors[link]

In 1995, The Plain Dealer Sunday Magazine named Symon as Cleveland’s hottest chef.^[2]

He was named a National Rising Star in 1997 by Restaurant Hospitality Magazine.^[8] In 1998, he was named one of the Ten Best New Chefs in America by Food & Wine magazine.^[31]

In 2006, Symon was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award in the "Best Chef Great Lakes" category. He would be nominated again in 2009, finally winning the prestigious award. It was one of the few moments when Symon was "speechless."

In 2007, Cleveland Magazine named him Best Local Chef for Lola and Lolita.

In 2010, the "Fat Doug" hamburger was named top burger at the Food Network South Beach Wine and Food Festival, beating out a burger from Bobby Flay as the "best burger in America."^[32] The burger, which is topped with pastrami, Swiss cheese and coleslaw on a brioche bun, is featured on the menu at The B Spot. Symon also defeated Flay in the same burger contest in 2011 and 2012.

Personal life[link]

Symon is married to Liz Shanahan, who has also been a collaborator on his restaurants. Symon has an adult stepson^[33], Kyle, who was two years old when Symon and Shanahan met.^[34]

Symon announced on the January 9, 2012 episode of The Chew that he had been a smoker for 20 years and will quit the habit and will be getting advice from co-host Daphne Oz's father, Dr. Mehmet Oz.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Symon Says blog
• Symon's restaurants' websites
  • Lola
  • Lolita
  • Bar Symon CLOSED
  • Roast
  • B-Spot
• Plain Dealer profile
• Michael Symon at the Chef and Restaurant Database

This article's lead section may not adequately summarize its contents. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of the article's key points. (April 2012)

Mario Batali

Mario Batali, May 5, 2005
Born	(1960-09-19) September 19, 1960 (age 51) Seattle, Washington United States
Cooking style	Italian
Education	Rutgers University Le Cordon Bleu
Current restaurant(s) Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca, Lupa Osteria Romana, Italian Wine Merchant (shop), Esca, Otto Enoteca Pizzeria, Casa Mono, Bar Jamon, Del Posto, Enoteca San Marco, B&B Ristorante, Carnevino, Zefferino (last four located in Las Vegas; all others are located in New York City)
Television show(s) Molto Mario; Ciao America with Mario Batali; Iron Chef America; Mario, Full Boil; The Chew
Official website
www.mariobatali.com

Mario Batali (born September 19, 1960)^[1] is an American chef, writer, restaurateur and media personality. In addition to his classical culinary training, he is an expert on the history and culture of Italian cuisine, including regional and local variations. Batali co-owns restaurants in New York City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Singapore and Hong Kong^[2] Batali's signature clothing style includes shorts and orange Crocs.^[3]

Personal life[link]

Batali was born in Seattle, Washington, the son of Marilyn (née LaFramboise) and Armandino Batali.^[4] His family moved to Yakima, Washington shortly thereafter.^[5] When Batali was about 8, his family moved back to Seattle when his father got a job as an engineer for Boeing. His father worked for Boeing for thirty years, then, after retirement, opened a meat-curing shop, Salumi, in Seattle.^[6]

He is of Italian ancestry on his father's side, and French Canadian ancestry on his mother's side.^[6][7]

According to research done by Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (of Harvard University, in 2010 for the PBS series Faces of America), his maternal great-great grandparents opened an Italian foods store in 1903. Batali's family roots are found almost entirely in the Western United States. Mario’s great-great-grandfather left Italy in 1899, going to Butte, Montana to work in the copper mines, but later moved west to settle in Seattle.^[6]

Mario moved to Spain with his family in 1975 and returned to the U.S. in 1978 to attend Rutgers University,^[8] where he majored in Spanish Language, Theatre and Economics, and graduated in 1982. He later went to attend Le Cordon Bleu, though he left because he found the pace too slow and felt that the best way for him to learn was in a professional kitchen. Mario currently lives in New York City with his wife Susi Cahn (of Coach Dairy Goat Farm) and two sons, Leo and Benno. He also owns homes in Northport, Michigan, and Red Hook, New York.

Batali is one of the principal subjects of Bill Buford's 2006 book, Heat. He is an advocate for same-sex marriage.^[9]

Professional career[link]

During college Batali worked as a dishwasher at "Stuff Yer Face" restaurant in New Brunswick, New Jersey, quickly moving up to stromboli and pizza maker.^{[citation needed]} Batali went on to serve as an assistant in the kitchens at the "Six Bells" public house in the Kings Road, Chelsea, under Marco Pierre White,^[10] La Tour d'Argent in Paris, Moulin de Mougins in Provence, and the Waterside Inn, outside London. In 1985 he worked as a sous chef at the Four Seasons Clift in San Francisco before being promoted to helm the Four Seasons Biltmore Hotel's La Marina restaurant in Santa Barbara.^{[citation needed]} At twenty-seven, Batali was the highest paid young chef in the company.^{[citation needed]} In 1989 he resigned and moved to the northern Italian village of Borgo Capanne to apprentice in the kitchen at La Volta, where he sought to master a traditional style of Italian cooking inspired by his grandmother, Leonetta Merlino.

In 1993, Batali opened "Po". In 1998, with business partner Joseph Bastianich (son of Lidia Bastianich), he went on to start "Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca". The pair have since opened seven additional restaurants,^[11] Lupa (1999), Esca (2000), Otto Enoteca Pizzeria (2003), Casa Mono (2004), Bar Jamon (2004), Bistro Du Vent (2004, closed in 2006), Del Posto (2005), Enoteca San Marco (2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada), B&B Ristorante (2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada), Tarry Lodge (in Port Chester, NY), CarneVino (2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada), Tarry Lodge in Westport, CT (2011), and a shop named Italian Wine Merchants (1999) which is no longer under Batali's ownership.

The New York Post reported in September 2007 that Batali’s contract with the Food Network would not be renewed, and that he would no longer be featured on its Iron Chef America series. The article further reported that although Batali had not initially been dismissed from Iron Chef America, he decided not to make any further appearances on the show after the network made the decision to cancel his cooking show, Molto Mario, which had been airing on Food Network since 1997.^[12] A Food Network spokesperson confirmed to ABC News that Molto Mario would no longer be aired, but said that "Mario Batali is still part of the Food Network family. Sometimes family members go off and do other things. We completely blessed his decision to go to PBS ... He is still going to appear on Iron Chef America."^[13] No new episodes of Molto Mario have been filmed since 2004, but the network continued airing re-runs, with reruns currently airing first on Fine Living and currently on Fine Living's replacement channel Cooking. Batali was absent on the season finalé of The Next Iron Chef, but he appeared twice during Iron Chef America's 2008 season, and his likeness has been licensed to appear in the Nintendo game Iron Chef America: Supreme Cuisine. As of episodes airing in 2010, Batali's name and likeness do not appear in the show's opening credits.

Batali is featured in PBS’s show Spain... on the Road Again with Gwyneth Paltrow, Mark Bittman (of The New York Times) and Claudia Bassols (a Spanish actress) featuring Spanish cuisine. The 13-episode series was filmed from October 2007 into early 2008.^[14] This will be the first of a series of shows that will be developed for PBS over the next several years. Batali is also in negotiations with Travel Channel to develop a series on Italian cuisine and culture with Anthony Bourdain that reportedly will be an "exhaustive, definitive Italy series with the kind of production values that Planet Earth had".^[15]

Batali teamed up with premium drum stick producer Vic Firth to create custom kitchen tools. Together they designed a line of wooden rolling pins, pepper grinders and salt grinders.^[16]

In 2009, Batali announced the creation of the Mario Batali Foundation "to educate, empower and encourage children".^[17] The foundation is an event-driven fundraiser for children’s disease research, children’s hunger relief, and literacy programs.^[18]

Batali has been critical of fellow international chef Gordon Ramsay, calling his cooking styles dated and boring. Although the New York Post reported, in 2009, of a feud between Ramsay and Batali,^[19] Batali has stated, "We really don't even know each other.... I'd love to hang out with him."^[20]

In 2009, Batali made his film debut in Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox.^[21]

Batali recently lost 45 pounds, hoping to shed about 80 pounds total. Batali said he decided to lose weight after he saw a picture of himself. He counts on light exercise and portion control to lose the weight. Batali said, "It’s really about calorie intake and calorie outtake. You just have to eat enough to get you to the next meal."^[22]

Mario is featured also in the MMORPG World of Warcraft: Cataclysm: in Stormwind City there is the NPC Bario Matalli which is regarded as "Sous Chef" and feature the highest-level cooking recipes available.

In 2012, Mario Batali plans to open 3 restaurants in Hong Kong.^[23]

Social activism[link]

Mario is on the board of directors for The Lunchbox Fund, a non-profit organization which provides a daily meal to students of township schools in Soweto of South Africa.

Controversy[link]

Statement on bankers[link]

While attending an event for Time on November 8, 2011, Batali stated "The way the bankers have toppled the way money is distributed – and taken most of it into their own hands – is as good as Stalin or Hitler and the evil guys". Following Batali's comments, users of Bloomberg's DINE function posted criticism of Batali, and called for a boycott of Batali's restaurant.^[24][25] Batali later stated through Twitter "To remove any ambiguity about my appearance at yesterday's Time Person of the Year panel, I want to apologize for my remarks. It was never my intention to equate our banking industry with Hitler and Stalin, two of the most evil, brutal dictators in modern history."

Tip skimming at restaurants[link]

In March of 2012, Batali and his business partners agreed to pay $5.25 million restitution in order to resolve a lawsuit filed in 2010 by former employees. The lawsuit against Mr. Batali, filed in 2010, said that he and a partner, Joseph Bastianich, and their restaurants had a policy of deducting an amount equivalent to 4 to 5 percent of total wine sales at the end of each night from the tip pool and keeping the money.^[26]

One bartender was told that “it was a policy across the Batali restaurant group” and that the money “went to the house,” a judge, Richard J. Holwell, wrote in a ruling in May 2011. At Tarry Lodge, in Port Chester, N.Y., a spreadsheet divided a night’s tips among waiters and documented a 4 percent deduction, Judge Holwell noted. At one staff meeting, an executive “refused to justify the policy and said it was not going to change,” the judge wrote.^[27]

Employees were told the money was to cover expenses related to wine research and to cover broken glassware, the judge added. He made no findings on the merits of the case.

Other Batali restaurants named in the suit included Babbo, Del Posto, Casa Mono, Bar Jamón, Esca, Lupa and Otto, all in Manhattan.^[27]

Television credits[link]

• Molto Mario^[28]
• Mediterranean Mario
• Mario Eats Italy^[29]
• Ciao America^[30]
• Iron Chef America: Battle of the Masters
• Iron Chef America: The Series
• ICA:All-Star Special
• Mario, FULL BOIL (Special)^[31]
• GladWare container commercials
• Emeril Live (guest appearance)
• Chefography (guest appearance)
• Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations (guest appearance)^[32]
• Spain... on the road Again (2008)
• The Daily Show (guest appearance) (2010, 2011, 2012)
• Bitter Feast (2010)
• Saturday Night Live (cameo; 2010)
• "The Chew"

Awards[link]

• Babbo, Michelin Guide, One Star^[33]
• Three Stars from The New York Times for "Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca"
• "Best New Restaurant of 1998" from the James Beard Foundation for "Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca"
• "Man of the Year" in GQ's chef category in 1999
• D'Artagnan Cervena Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America in 2001
• "Best Chef: New York City" from the James Beard Foundation in 2002
• "All-Clad Cookware Outstanding Chef Award" from the James Beard Foundation in 2005 (national award)
• "Best Restaurateur" from the James Beard Foundation in 2008

Bibliography[link]

• Mario Batali Simple Italian Food: Recipes from My Two Villages (1998), ISBN 0-609-60300-0
• Mario Batali Holiday Food : Family Recipes for the Most Festive Time of the Year (2000), ISBN 0-609-60774-X
• Vino Italiano: The Regional Wines of Italy (contributor) (2002), ISBN 0-609-60848-7
• The Babbo Cookbook (2002), ISBN 0-609-60775-8
• The Artist's Palate (foreword) (2003), ISBN 0-7894-7768-8
• Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home (2005), ISBN 0-06-073492-2
• Mario Tailgates NASCAR Style (2006), ISBN 0-89204-846-8
• Spain...A Culinary Road Trip (2008), written with Gwyneth Paltrow, and Julia Turshen. ISBN 978-0-06-156093-4
• Italian Grill (2008), written with Judith Sutton. ISBN 978-0-06-145097-6
• Molto Gusto: Easy Italian Cooking (2010), written with Mark Ladner. ISBN 978-0-06-192432-3
• Molto Batali: Simple Family Meals from My Home to Yours (2011), ISBN 978-0-06-209556-5

See also[link]

• List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mario Batali

• Official website
• Biography on Food Network's site
• Mario Batali at the Chef and Restaurant Database

Jim Symon is a Scottish broadcaster and voice-over artist who is currently presenting for STV and the Scottish radio network of AM stations owned and operated by Bauer Radio.

Born and raised in Glasgow, Symon began his career at Radio Clyde in 1981 as a relief presenter for the Drivetime programme Clydewide Tonight.^[1] Afterwards, he continued to present various programmes for the station.

By 1983, Symon had joined Scottish Television (now STV Central) as a continuity announcer and newsreader. During this time, he voiced many nationwide TV advertisements in the UK and was also chosen as the voice for a talking version of an Action Man toy.^[2]

Symon continued announcing on a freelance basis when he became a Presentation Director for Scottish TV in 1988. He also announced and directed transmission for Grampian Television. He left Scottish Television in 2003 but rejoined seven years later as an out-of-vision presenter for STV's regional overnight strand The Nightshift.

After a stint presenting on West Sound Radio in Ayr, Symon joined Clyde 2, the AM station of Radio Clyde. He now presents the weekday late show on Clyde 2, Northsound 2, Forth 2, Tay AM and West Sound on Sunday - Friday nights between 10pm and 1am.

References[link]