THE TEAM

The TARRY LODGE team combines Mario and Joe's restaurateur expertise and signature style with Andy Nusser's exceptional cooking and Nancy Selzer's supreme management skills. Together, the team produces great food and vibes everyday.

ANDY NUSSER
Andy Nusser's passion for food began in his Spanish hometown on the Costa Brava where he started work as a dishwasher for a restaurant called Casa Nun. In the United States, he spent more than a decade working for General Motors in Santa Barbara before enrolling at the Culinary Institute of America. After graduating at the top of his class in 1995, he started cooking with Mario Batali in the tiny kitchen at Pó in Greenwich Village, Mario's first restaurant. In 1998, Andy was named Executive Chef at Mario and Joe Bastianich's newly opened Babbo, where he helped the restaurant earn three stars from The New York Times and the title of Best New Restaurant from the James Beard Foundation. In 2003, Andy, Nancy, Mario and Joe opened Casa Mono and Bar Jamón, odes to the food Andy experienced growing up in Spain. Among his many successes, Andy was an Award Wining Chef at the Copa de Jerez 2007 International Competition. He and his family reside in Hastings-on-Hudson.

NANCY SELZER
Raised in Salem, Virginia, Nancy Selzer left the world of academic publishing for her true-calling and has since spent more than fifteen years in the restaurant industry. She began her long-standing relationship with Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich when she was hired as a server in the team that earned Babbo its first three stars from The New York Times. She was promoted to General Manager at Pó, Mario's first restaurant, then returned to Babbo as the Service Director. She went on to help create the bustling Casa Mono and intimate Bar Jamón, where her responsibilities included cultivating the acclaimed wine list, noted by the Wine Spectator as one of the best in Manhattan. She was an award winning sommelier at the Copa de Jerez 2007 International Competition. She lives with her husband and son in Brooklyn.

MARIO BATALI
A Seattle-bred, New York-based restaurateur, cookbook author, and television personality, Mario Batali is known for his signature style — brazen meets sophisticated, forward meets enduring. He was named Man of the Year in the chef category by GQ Magazine in 1999. In 2002, he won the James Beard Foundation's Best Chef: New York City award and in 2005 the James Beard Foundation awarded Mario Outstanding Chef of the Year. Mario is also one of the recipients of the 2001 D'Artagnan Cervena Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America, a prestigious lifetime achievement award. Most recently, he and Joe Bastianich were awarded the 2008 James Beard Foundation's Outstanding Restaurateur Award. Mario splits his time between New York City's Greenwich Village and northern Michigan with his wife Susan Cahn of Coach Dairy Goat Farm, and their two sons.

JOE BASTIANICH
After studying finance and spending a year on Wall Street, Joe bought a one-way ticket to Italy and explored the country's small corners, keeping food and wine a top priority. He came back to New York and opened Becco with his mother, Lidia Matticchio Bastianich, and then partnered with Mario to open Babbo, which garnered three coveted stars from The New York Times and the prestigious Best New Restaurant in America award from the James Beard Foundation — indeed, the prophetic beginning of their thriving collection of restaurants. Joe is also a passionate wine-maker and teacher and wrote, with David Lynch, Vino Italiano. In 2005 he was recognized as an Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional by both the James Beard Foundation and Bon Appétit. Most recently, he and Mario were awarded the 2008 James Beard Foundation's Outstanding Restaurateur Award. Joe feels fortunate to be "working within the vernacular of the Italian table."