Without formal cooking credentials to your name, it’s best to avoid inviting Mario Batali to dinner. Bill Buford, writer for The New Yorker magazine, knew the potential for humiliation, but he did it anyway. As if that wasn’t enough, he proceeded to get permission to work in the kitchen of Batali’s Manhattan restaurant, Babbo. For the enjoyment of restaurant enthusiasts everywhere, the details of this adventure are documented in his book, Heat: An Amateur’s Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-quoting Butcher in Tuscany. Read more