So the second fun thing that happened last week is that I got to interview Mario Batali.  At Otto, no less.  I finally invested in a digital recorder, so was able to just talk without taking notes.  We sat down over a cappucino and talked about philanthropy (go to CelebrityPastaLovers.com and download the celebrity pasta cookbook he just finished with Giada DeLaurentis — Barilla pasta will donate $1 per download, up to $100,000, to America’s Second Harvest), pasta, and neighborhood favorites.  The one section of the interview that I didn’t post was the part when I asked him why he replaced the fritti at Otto with pasta.  Bottom line — it wasn’t making any money.  Plus, as Mario noted, "this neighborhood needed pasta."  I still miss the ceci bottarga.  You can read the interview here. 

Photo courtesy of New York Observer

And on a completely unrelated note — nothing better in this ridiculous Nanuk of the North weather than, you guessed it, swim class.