Michael Batterberry

Who was Michael Batterberry?

Michael Carver Batterberry was an American food writer who founded and edited Food & Wine and Food Arts together with his wife.

Batterberry was born on April 8, 1932, in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, his American parents having relocated there while his father was working for Procter & Gamble. He relocated to the United States with his family upon the outbreak of World War II. Batterberry attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology, but dropped to move to Venezuela with his family, where his father was establishing P&G's presence in Latin America. Batterberry worked as a painter and interior designer in Venezuela and Rome.

After his return to the U.S. in the 1950s, Batterberry worked as a freelance food writer. He married writer Ariane Ruskin, and the two of them were arts editors at Harper's Bazaar. They co-authored On the Town in New York, From 1776 to the Present, a historical gastronomic survey that covered the city's food history from banquets to Chinese takeout which was described by The Washington Post as being "considered the authoritative history of dining in the country's culinary capital". In November 1998, the publishing firm Routledge issued a new edition of the book on its 25th anniversary.