In 2008, he and Mario Batali won the Outstanding Restaurateur Award by the James Beard Foundation.
The son of Felice and Lidia Bastianich, Joseph Bastianich was born in Astoria, Queens in 1968. Raised working in his parents' Italian restaurant Felidia in Manhattan, he attended Fordham Preparatory School before attending Boston College, where he studied Finance. Bastianich lives in New York City, with his wife, Deanna, and their children, Olivia, Ethan, and Miles.
After spending a year on Wall Street as a bond trader, he gave up his newly launched career and ventured into the food industry. He took an extended trip to Italy. In 1993, he opened Becco (Italian for "peck, nibble, savor"), an Italian restaurant with his mother, Lidia Bastianich. He then partnered with Mario Batali to open Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca, an Italian restaurant that gained the prestigious three stars from The New York Times, the first Italian restaurant to gain the award in 40 years. Babbo also has earned one Michelin star. Together they opened seven more restaurants in New York: Lupa, Esca, Casa Mono, Bar Jamon, Otto, Del Posto, and Eataly (an Italian marketplace). In 2010, Del Posto received a four-star review from The New York Times, one of only five restaurants in New York to win that award. Their culinary empire has expanded to 10 restaurants in New York, 4 restaurants in Las Vegas, 3 restaurants in Los Angeles, 2 restaurants in Singapore, 1 Italian market in Chicago, 1 Italian market in Boston, and two restaurants in Hong Kong.
In 2008, he and Mario Batali won the Outstanding Restaurateur Award by the James Beard Foundation.
Bastianich has co-authored two award-winning books on Italian wine, and his memoir, Restaurant Man, became a New York Times Best Seller within a week of its release in May 2012.
Bastianich also made a special appearance in the 2015 television film An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success as a judge in a fictional season of MasterChef Junior. From March 22, 2016, he presented, with Guido Meda and Davide Valsecchi, the first edition of Top Gear Italia.
He was a judge on the American MasterChef series broadcast by Fox until it took too much of his time, and MasterChef Junior until he was replaced on both series by Christina Tosi in 2015. However, he returned for the sixth season of MasterChef Junior on March 2, 2018. He is also a judge on the Italian version of the program. MasterChef Italia shown on Sky Uno.
