The Mario Batali-Michael Stipe Mutual Appreciation Society Rides On
Today’s New York Times has a piece on the painstaking process some restaurants go through in order to match their music to their food; while Muzak is the order of the day at even higher-end restaurants, the Times interviews one DJ who comes up with musical blends for NYC hotspots and charges a few thousand dollars for an “off the rack” version of his mix. (Note to any restaurateurs out there: We can mix for you, too, if you get in touch.) And then, there’s ruddy-cheeked Food Network star Mario Batali, who can’t get enough of his BFF, Michael Stipe:
Sometimes it’s a solo show: regulars at Babbo are accustomed to having plates of black spaghetti with rock shrimp served with an audible side of whatever Mario Batali likes, as loud as he likes, whenever he likes. (These days his iPod is more likely to be dishing up the plaintive croon of Michael Stipe than the mix of Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix that dominated the restaurant’s dining room in its early years.)
It’s the latest chapter in the Stipe-Batali lovefest, which includes Stipe blurbing the restaurateur with phrases like “If food could rule the world, Mario Batali would be Emperor,” late-night canoodling, and a mutual tongue-bath that aired on the Sundance Channel last year. We just hope that Batali isn’t so blinded by his buddy-buddyness that he winds up subjecting diners to Around The Sun on endless repeat.
