Joseph Bastianich born September 17, 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 His mother has stated that she feels very Italian, but that she relates to her Slavic roots too.
After spending a year on Wall Street as a bond trader , he gave up his newly launched career and ventured into the food industry. In , 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 , [ 7 ] the first Italian restaurant to gain the award in 40 years.
Babbo also has earned one Michelin star. 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 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 Best Seller within a week of its release in May Bastianich was a judge on the American MasterChef series broadcast by Fox [ 13 ] until it took too much of his time, [ 14 ] and MasterChef Junior until he was replaced on both series by Christina Tosi in the spring of after he exited the franchise in November However, he eventually returned to temporarily judge Season 6 of MasterChef Junior on March 2, [ 15 ] and has returned to the judging panel as a full-time judge on MasterChef since Season 9 in June He was also a judge on the Italian version of the program.
MasterChef Italia shown on Sky Uno for its first 8 seasons. In mid-September of the same year, Bastianich released his first album, titled "Aka Joe". In late January , he will star in a musical concert tour around Italy, featuring his "New York Stories" album. In a 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.
