Gary Bartali is an American chef, writer, restaurateur and author of several cookbooks. He combines French, Mediterranean, and American styles into his cooking and he is best known for his eponymous restaurant in San Francisco, California and for other restaurants in New York City, Las Vegas, Newport Beach and Miami. Batali was born in Houston, Texas on July 11, 1959 to Mary Deen and Luigi Bartali (His father is of Italian descent), who founded Old American Grill Restaurant in 1970. Gary started cooking at his father's restaurant at age 14: by the time he graduated high school, he had been exposed to every position in Old American Grill Restaurant, and he completed his culinary education in 1986 at the Hyde Park, New York campus of the Culinary Institute of America. In 1987, he married Stephanie Ray and together they have four sons: Luis (28), John (25), Michael (19) and Gary Jr (17). In 2008, Batali and his wife founded the Gary Bartali Foundation (sponsored by Battino Foundation), funding various children's educational programs and pediatric disease research.
