Spicy meatball Mario Batali has agreed to pay $5.25 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by workers at his restaurants, it was reported Wednesday.

Last week, Jon Stewart took over Stephen Colbert's Super PAC and now he has to find ways to spend all that money. But, since they can't coordinate with each other, Colbert must give Stewart coded messages while being interviewed on television, exactly like Newt Gingrich must do. Apparently the answer was having Mario Batali feed him an egg frittata.

Know what is funnier than fat people falling or breaking things? Famous fat people falling or breaking things. Know what's funnier than that? When it happens on national television.

Celebrity chef Mario Batali indelicately compared "the entire banking industry" to "Stalin or Hitler and the evil guys" at a Time panel on Tuesday. A poor choice of metaphor, for sure—especially when you consider that bankers make up a significant portion of the customer base at Batali's high-end New York restaurants. Even more so when you consider what crybabies bankers are.

Six weeks ago, ABC replaced All My Children with a new food-focused daytime talk show called The Chew. Hosted by Mario Batali, fellow Iron Chef Michael Symon, Top Chef favorite Carla Hall, What Not to Wear's Clinton Kelly and Daphne Oz (daughter of Dr. Mehmet Oz), it's a combination of The View and Rachael Ray—but worse.

Rep. Peter King recently stated that he would hold Congressional hearings to question American muslims who, he believed, hadn't done enough to stop terrorism. But what about King's own ties to the Irish Republican Army? Tonight, Jon Stewart investigated.

Who: Possibly the most famous—and most overexposed—chef in New York, Batali is the carrot-topped maestro of Italian cuisine behind such eateries as Babbo, Lupa, Esca, Otto, and Del Posto. His most recent venture is Eataly, the massive Italian food marketplace that opened in August 2010.

Rotund, Croc-clad celebrity chef Mario Batali, who also works part-time as Gwyneth Paltrow's spirit guide, is being sued by the waiters and busboys at his highly regarded New York restaurant Del Posto. The staffers claim their tips were pooled illegally.

Across New York City, our wealthiest restaurateurs are under assault from the poors—and their lawyers! Many celeb chefs you know and love from television are being sued for ripping off their workers. Where's tort reform when Morimoto needs it?

Mario Batali might be in hot water. Two ex-employees have filed a possible class-action suit against the celebrity chef, claiming that for years he's been underpaying workers and bilking them out of tips and overtime.

Two former employees have filed this class-action suit against celebrity chef Mario Batali and business partner Joseph Bastianich, accusing them of withholding tips and violating minimum wage and overtime laws.

After three months of heavy promotion, Food Network finally aired what was pegged to be the greatest Iron Chef ever. The secret ingredient—White House vegetables—was apparently of "national importance." Here are four things we learned during the special.

• Vong closes tomorrow. Moving in is Wolfgang's Steakhouse. [JGV via Eater]
• Mario Batali says he decided to change up Del Posto because he's planning to get a second Michelin star and a four-star Times review this year. [TONY]
• Rumor has it Scott Conant may take over the Table 8 space. [Eater]
• The Mermaid Inn team open the Mermaid Oyster Bar next week. [GS]
• MePa's Los Dados seems to have morphed into a sports bar. [Eater]
• The food cart hype was bound to lead to something like the lunch shelf. [SE]
• It's a pain when a restaurant screws up a dish, sure. But it's no reason to threaten your waiter with a knife. Unless you want to go to jail, that is. [NYP]

What's Mario Batali dressing up this Halloween? "Mario will be a 'dictator,'" a spokeswoman says. "He ties a piece of butcher twine to his belt on one end and a Yukon gold potato on the other." Points for cleverness! [Previously]

Demi Moore won't respond to the British Prime Minister's wife. Victoria Beckham won't respond to questions about her tits. And Hugh Hefner doesn't respond well to his wife's infidelity. Oh, yes, it's your Thursday morning Gossip Roundup!

• The Shake Shack expansion cannot be stopped. Late last week, word dropped that Danny Meyer's burger chain was planning to open seven locations in the Middle East and three new outposts in Manhattan; today comes word that the first of these three will be at the corner of Mulberry and Prince Streets.
• A Voce will soft open this evening in the Time Warner Center. Here's a peek inside. And here's an interview with chef Missy Robbins. [Eater, Zagat]
• This week's reviews: New York's Adam Platt gives one star apiece to DBGB and L'Entrecôte; Bloomberg's Ryan Sutton is very pleased with what he finds at the Standard Grill; TONY's Jay Cheshes visits Brooklyn's Prime Meats; the New Yorker's Shauna Lyon checks in on to Locanda Verde; and the Village Voice's Robert Sietsema finds the food at Joseph Leonard "often spectacular."
• The John Dory closed on August 29. Now the eatery's landlord has filed suit against Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich for $75,000 in unpaid rent. [NYDN]
• Josh Picard (Chinatown Brasserie, Lure, Locanda Verde) is taking over the old Cub Room space; meanwhile, Jason and Joe Denton of 'inoteca will be taking over the space formerly occupied by Frederick's Downtown. [Eater]

Chef and Food Network fixture Mario Batali turns 48 today. Adam Sandler is turning 43. Hugh Grant is 49. Michelle Williams is turning 29. Retired football great Joe Theismann is 60. Singer Michael Bublé is turning 34. Actor Tom Wopat is 58. And '90s model Rachel Hunter celebrates her 40th birthday today.

• Anita Lo hopes to re-open her fire-damaged Annisa next month. [TONY]
• Closings: Frederick Lesort's Frederick's Downtown closed up shop last Friday; and the UWS outpost of Blondies has been shuttered by the tax cops.
• Frank Bruni shares his thoughts on Bastianich and Batali's Casa Mono. [NYT]
• A rooftop beer garden called Berry Park is coming soon to Williamsburg. [UD]
• The Eldridge had to do some renovations after a vandalism incident. [DBTH]
• The city is looking to support aspiring chefs by turning a 4,000-square-foot space in Harlem into a big kitchen for foodie entrepreneurs. [NYT]
• The boost its bottom line and make employees more "productive," Starbucks is now looking to limit unnecessary "walking, reaching, and bending." [WSJ]
• Tom Colicchio and wife Lori Silverbush welcomed a son into the world on Saturday. He's named Luka Bodhi Colicchio, in case you're wondering. [People]

• A round up of eateries that recently opened, or will open this week. [Eater]
• Una Pizza Napoletana has closed its doors. It will become the first Manhattan outpost of the Williamsburg pizzeria Motorino in a few weeks. [NYT]
• Le Bernardin's Eric Ripert was tasked with cooking (beef, not fish) for French president Nicolas Sarkozy during his recent visit to New York. [P6]
• How to establish yourself as a regular at the restaurant of your choice. [GS]
• Summer "food crawls" through the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens. [NYDN]
• Not only is Padma Lakshmi is discussions to star in a NBC sitcom, but Mario Batali is joining the cast of Bitter Feast, a "darkly comic thriller." [Variety, GS]
• An extended interview with Aquavit's Marcus Samuelsson. [ObsesedTV]

• A group of 21 stores on the Lower East Side are coming together to offer a weekend of discounts in honor of the (capsule) trade show that's currently underway. [Pipeline, Cut]
• Modeling rates really must falling: A Hugo Boss model has been charged for taking part in the robberies of 15 gas stations and delis. [NYP]
• Eddie Bauer will survive, after all. A private equity firm is buying the company out of bankruptcy for a whopping $284 million. [BN]
• Rihanna half-shaved her head this week. Exciting! Don't think for a moment, though, it was an original move on Rihanna's part, says an outraged Joe Zee of Elle. [People, Twitter]