Bastianich Explains How Del Posto Nabbed Four Stars

Joe Bastianich's new memoir Restaurant Man (out today) features a few juicy reveals on how he grew his empire with Mario Batali. One of the most interesting parts of the book is the passage about how Del Posto finally landed the four star review from Sam Sifton.

Bastianich explains that the restaurant was going through "some real lows" when Sifton came on board as critic, and that they took some big risks in an effort to get those four sparklers from the New York Times:

This was no joke, what we did for a fourth star. It was like a manned mission to Mars. We really went all out. We did less business for a year—we just stopped doing the volume, cut down the tables, and fine- tuned the experience...We said, "All right, Mr. Sifton, this is New York’s first four-star Italian restaurant..."

We waited and waited, and one year went by...and then a year and a half. Seriously, we could have been to Mars and back in that time. He came in once, came in twice, came in three times—and then the whole thing just fucking exploded.

The release of Restaurant Man has already pissed off a few people mentioned in the book, including Post critic Steve Cuozzo, who filed a takedown last week, and Esquire's John Mariani, who Bastianich refers to as a "self-righteous, condescending prick" in the memoir.

In a correspondance obtained by the Post, Mariani accuses Bastianich of "warp[ing] the truth to suit what are clearly your own insecurities" and trying "to out-Bourdain [Anthony] Bourdain." Head over to Eater National for more on the feud.
· John Mariani Slams Joe Bastianich Over Memoir Tirade [~EN~]
· All Coverage of Joe Bastianich [~ENY~]
[Photo: CT Bites]