At the Movies

Batali Continues to Beef Up His Acting Résumé

With fellow glamour-puss Richie Rich.
With fellow glamour-puss Richie Rich. Photo: Patrick McMullan

Speak of the devil! Just as we’re imagining Mario Batali in the pilot of Padma Lakshmi’s new sitcom, we get this bit of news: Super Mario is joining the cast of Bitter Feast, a “darkly comic thriller” currently filming in Manhattan and Woodstock. From the release: “The film, written and directed by Joe Maggio (Virgil Bliss, Milk and Honey), stars Josh Leonard (Humpday) and James LeGros (Zodiac). LeGros plays a New York chef and TV cooking personality who takes culinary revenge on the food critic (Leonard) who recently savaged his restaurant in a review. Batali plays the owner of the restaurant. The film is being produced by MPI Media Group and Glass Eye Pix with producer Larry Fessenden (Last Winter), who also appears in the film.” Another feather in Mario’s cap, right on the heels of lending his dulcet voice to Wes Anderson’s next one. So when does he do the romantic comedy with Gwyneth?

Batali Continues to Beef Up His Acting Résumé