Jeremiah Tower

Celebrity chefs Mario Batali and Jeremiah Tower are teaming up to open a restaurant on the Amalfi Coast in Italy together. The project seems to have been borne from what sounded like an off-hand statement from Tower during an interview with Bon Appetit magazine published this week.

Buried at the very bottom of the story, Tower says there’s one thing that could lure him back into the kitchen. “If Mario Batali would like to open a restaurant on the Amalfi Coast with me, I would do it. Until then, he’ll be eating tacos.”

It seems his taco-eating days in Mexico where he currently lives, may be fewer and far between after Batali took to Twitter to confirm that the project is a go. In reply to a tweet that links to the story, Batali wrote “We are in the planning phase. Stay tuned!!”

Mario Batali

Tower has been doing the media circuit recently to promote a new documentary produced by Anthony Bourdain, that chronicles his career as a rising chef at Chez Panisse in California, and one of the most influential figures in American gastronomy.

Food blog Eater.com confirmed the news with Batali’s spokesperson, who said the chefs are looking for beach-front properties between Atrani and Vietri along the Amalfi Coast.