Mario Batali Settles Out of Court

Gastro guru, restaurateur, reality television star and owner of Port Chester’s Tarry Lodge and Tarry Market, Mario Batali found himself in the hot seat this week. Not because he’s cooked up a new gourmet dish, but because he and his business partner, Joe Bastianich, were named in a lawsuit.

WNYC reported Thursday that the longtime foodie partners wound up in a New York federal court on the wrong end of a law suit brought by “117 waiters, captains, servers and busboys” who accused Batali and Bastianich of taking a portion of the staff’s tips. “In some cases as much as 5 percent of the nightly wine sales,” according to WNYC.

It seems the lawsuit was ultimately settled out of court and with no comment from the legal team representing the plaintiffs. And an attorney for the restaurateurs told NPR, “the matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of all parties.” The resolution, official signature from the judge and subsequent payments to the plaintiffs are slated for this summer.

The total on that settlement check? $5.25 million.

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