The one-time White House guest chef weighs in on the President's track record...
New York celeb chef Mario Batali, who visited First Lady Michelle Obama at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in October of 2009 to film a White House episode of Iron Chef America: Superchef Battle, discussed President Obama during an appearance on CNN with Piers Morgan.
"Obama came in with a really great idea, and I love him, and I love what he represents, but he came into the knife fight without the knife," Batali said.
Batali needed a sharper knife during his Iron Chef White House battle: He and teammate Emeril Lagasse lost to White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford and teammate Bobby Flay. The episode aired in January of 2010, and caused an outcry in the media because "stunt vegetables" were used for the filming of the competition part of the show, rather than the vegetables the chefs had been filmed plucking from the First Lady's Kitchen Garden. (Above: Batali is next to Mrs. Obama; from left is Flay, Comerford, host Alton Brown and Lagasse)*Food Network photo