Mario Batali: Tailgates NASCAR Style

By JULIETTE ROSSANT It's been on coming toward the horizon for nearly half a year, ever since Food Network star Mario Batali was made honorary starter of the Pennsylvania 500 at the Pocono Raceway last July, reported New York Magazine (among others): Mario Batali is going NASCAR. While sometimes it seems that playing sports is a prerequisite for kitchen life (see profiles in Super Chef on Charlie Palmer, Todd English, Mary Sue Milliken & Susan Feniger, and Tom Colicchio, all of whom are athletic), Mario defies the norm. In New York's Central Park at a chefs all-star baseball game sponsored by Food & Wine Magazine in 2003, "Despite demonic shorts and spiffy orange high-tops, Batali pitched so poorly that even first-time play Marcus Samuelsson got a hit off him," (see Super Chef, p. 176). OK, so he can't pitch a baseball, but the less-than-athletic Mario may be laughing all the way to the bank with this NASCAR deal. In fact, 2006 may be the "Year of Mario." He has new restaurants (see previous article) opening outside his New York base (which will finally make him a "super chef" -- see definition). He has a major deal with Copco, who sell products under his "Italian Kitchen" banner. He even has a pizza home kit to rival Wolfgang Puck (see previous article). Don't be surprised if you see an expensive pair of Mario's orange high-top sneakers right next to the Pope's glossy red leathers in a Prada store next year. So, what does this new relationship entail? Well, there's the prerequisite cookbook coming out next year, Mario Tailgates NASCAR Style -- the tangible, take-home product for consumers to buy. Michael Garavalia, Director of Retail Sales & Marketing for Sporting News, explained today to Superchefblog that his company's book division had negotiated the publishing deal directly with Mario and then recruited as distributor HarperCollins, who published Molto Italiano earlier this year (see our review) and other books. Then there are the on-site buys in the form of higher quality (and, one would hope for NASCAR's sake, higher margin) food at NASCAR events. A new outlet is going into the Phoenix International Raceway, where Mario will be hawking wine and sushi, in addition to the more typical fare of beer and barbecue. The venue is to be called Octane, a luxury lounge for wealthier NASCAR fans, opening in April 2006, part of a $50 million renovation over the past five years. "It's like Scottsdale meets NASCAR," Phoenix International Raceway President Bryan Sperber said, according to The Arizona Republic. "It's going to be the place to be seen." NASCAR has been crunching its marketing numbers, to find that 42% of fans earn $50,000 or more, a few points above the national average. They switched sponsors in 2003 from three-decade support RJR tobacco to Nextel mobile phones (now Sprint). "Mario will be the 'official' chef of NASCAR, if you will," NASCAR's Director of Business Communications, Andrew Giangola told Superchefblog. "As our fan base increases, you clearly see more upper-income folks following the sport," The Arizona Republic reported Giangola as saying. NASCAR has been happy to see their chef appear recently not only in Sports Illustrated and also cite a recent Newsweek article (see previous article). One thing is for sure: if Mario is NASCAR's chef, he has his work cut out for him: Subsequent articles: Mario Tailgates NASCAR Style (cookbook review) Mario Batali: 2 Brothers Related news: Fortune Magazine Sports Illustrated Newsweek New York Magazine Boston Globe Yahoo! Sports - Sharpie 500 CBS Sunday Morning Yahoo! Sports - Nascar Arizona Republic Dallas-Ft. Worth Star-Telegram Sacramento Bee NPR Chronogram Previous articles: Newsweek Cites Juliette Rossant on Mario Batali Juliette Rossant: Forbes Tastemakers - Mario Batali Mario Batali: Molto Italiano Newsweek Bets on Mario Batali's Basting Brush Anita Lo Defeats Mario Batali on Iron Chef America Iron Chef Pizza Wars: Batali vs. Puck Nancy Silverton & Mario Batali's Mozza Molto Mario Massacres Mahi Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, NASCAR --> back to superchefblog