James Beard Award nominees 2008

Joe Bastianich & Mario Batali | Outstanding Restaurateur

They’ve racked up enough JB awards and nominations to qualify for their own JB frequent-flyer club. The Babbo empire’s dynamic duo now commandeer over a dozen restaurants on both the West and East Coasts, including NYC standbys Esca, Del Posto, Casa Mono and—of course—the Babbo mothership itself, which kicked everything off with the 1999 James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant.