Joe Bastianich

Joseph "Joe" Bastianich was a world renowned restauranteur, with over thirty eateries in operation around the globe, as well as a successful author and television personality. Born in Astoria, Queens, Bastianich was the son of Felice and Lidia Bastianich, two famous restauranteurs in their own right. Bastianich attended high school at Fordham Prep, before studying finance at Boston College. When a career in Wall Street trading bonds left him unsatisfied, Bastianich decided to get into the family business. He and his mother Lidia opened an Italian restaurant called Becco in 1993. Once that spot became an institution, he joined forces with Mario Batali to open Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca in 2006, an establishment that quickly took the culinary world by storm. The Italian restaurant earned a Michelin star, and became the first Italian restaurant in 40 years to receive a three star review from the New York Times. Emboldened by their success, Bastianich and Batali opened seven more restaurants in New York: Lupa, Esca, Casa Mono, Bar Jarmon, Otto, Eataly, and Del Posto. In 2010, Del Posto made headlines when it earned a super rare four star review from The New York Times. Bastianich released his memoir, Restaurant Man, in 2012, and it quickly became a best-seller. Until 2015, Bastianich was a judge on Gordon Ramsay's "MasterChef" (FOX, 2010-) and "MasterChef Junior" (FOX, 2013-) cooking competition shows, before he had to bow out due to his busy schedule.