Yesterday Eater published a column by notorious blog-hating chef Mario Batali, appropriately called Why I hate Food Bloggers. Strangely the only boldfaced name Batali singles out in his philippic isn't a blogger at all but a real "journalist," the Post's Mr. Braden Keil. Apropos coverage of Batali's latest victory over his landlord at Del Posto, Batali writes

If you follow the blue bold link, it takes you to the original piece driven by a factoid written by the hapless NY Post real estate/food hack Braden Keil who has hated me for as long as I can remember, not that he has any value to journalism anyway. That's who.

Hapless hating hack? Did Batali really think this sort of jibe would go unanswered? If so, he must have been pretty surprised when he opened up today's Page Six column. Braden Keil has his claws out. Reow!

Dubious Spots

MARIO Batali's Spotted Pig is more like a pigsty, according to a city health inspection last month. The Post's Braden Keil reports the West 11th Street gastropub, where the globetrotting chef is a partner, was slapped with 34 violation points (27 is passing) for numerous infractions - including conditions conducive to vermin harborage, unsanitary food contact surfaces, and flying insects. Earlier this year, Batali's flagship, Babbo, squeaked by inspectors with 19 points but was still cited for food cross-contamination and workers handling food with bare hands.

Now, we admit, having Marco Pierre White run around with a bloody hand mayn't be super sanitary, but there is no way this item was anything but retaliatory. Batali does have a point that Braden certainly seems to have a problem with him. After Batali's roast, an event wherein daggers are cloaked in friendship to begin with, Braden penned a beyond-the-pale cutting item.

But Braden denies any antipathy. Kind of. We asked Braden what the truth was, and he wrote:

Some sympathetic soul brought the item to our attention after Mario's molto meltdown on Eater. Mario thinks I hate him. But I don't know him well enough to love him or hate him. It would seem that if a journalist isn't gushing about him he must think the writer is driven by hate. If he can't stand the heat he should get back in the kitchen.