Politicker » Mario Batali

Girls Star Lena Dunham Wants To Take on The Tea Party by Eating ‘Dope Sh*t’

Hunter Walker — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 16:16:40 -0400

Lena Dunham (Photo: Twitter)

Lena Dunham, the star, creator and producer of HBO's hipster-ific series Girls, took to Twitter today to encourage her more than 200,000 followers to take on the Tea Party by "eat[ing] dope shit" at a series of dinners dedicated to raising money to defeat a "targeted list" of Tea Party incumbents picked by a liberal super PAC. The dinners are hosted by hosted by a group called Downtown For Democracy and Ms. Dunham's real-life best friend, Audrey Gelman (who uses the handle @grumplstilskin on Twitter and works as press secretary for Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer) is a member of the Downtown For Democracy Board.

"Want to eat dope shit for a wonderful cause? Support D4D and my oldest best ‪#girl‬ @grumplstiltskin," Ms. Dunham tweeted along with a link to the dinner series.

The Downtown For Democracy dinners, aptly titled "Dining For Democracy," feature meals cooked by star chefs including Mario Batali and Momofoku Milk Bar's Christina Tosi. There will also be guest speakers and musicians including MSNBC host Alex Wagner and Michael Bloomberg's deputy mayor for government affairs, Howard Wolfson. Tickets require contributions ranging from $125 to $2,000.

Downtown for Democracy was founded in 2003 "to organize artists around the Bush/Kerry presidential election." During this election cycle, they're focused on defeating the "Tea Party 10," a list of Tea Party incumbents in Congress compiled by the liberal super PAC CREDO that includes, Allen West and Steve King.

Batali Likes Quinn In 2013

Azi Paybarah — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 11:44:44 -0400

Famed chef Mario Batali, who is in Albany advocating for same-sex marriage, also has an opinion about who he'd like to see as mayor of New York City in 2013, .

"No doubt about it, it's Christine Quinn," Batali told me.

Why?

"I love Christine Quinn, I love what she's done for New York City," he said. "She's got a national vision but she also understands the particular complexities of New York City and it's quirky and infinitely beautiful constituency. I think she has her finger on the pulse."

Mario Batali Tries to Cook Up a Vote in Albany

Azi Paybarah — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 11:34:46 -0400

A spokesman for the Republican State Senate conference said GOP lawmakers are discussing details of rent regulations and mandate relief, not same-sex marriage. That would mean the progress legislative leaders announced yesterday are not finalized and could be far from completed.

Mario Batali, the famed chef, is in the Capitol building and said he would try convincing "anybody who will listen to me" to support the bill. I asked if he scheduled any meetings with Republican State Senators.

"I just arrived 10 minutes ago and discovered elevator number 6 and elevator number 5 are exactly the same," he said. Later, I asked what he thought would happen to Cuomo if this passes.

"I think Cuomo will be successful in the long run no matter how this vote goes," Batali said.