If you've ever been to Eataly [1] in New York City, you can thank Mario Batali [2]. The chef and restauranteur wears many hats (and many Crocs), and he's been gracing TV screens for years with his charm and unparalleled Italian-food knowledge — but could you ever have guessed what he would have been if he wasn't a chef? Keep reading for that plus more fun facts about the world-renowned culinary guru.

1. He was born in Seattle but went to high school in Madrid.
2. If he had to live off three meals alone [3], they would be "linguine with clams, bucatini all'amatriciana, and a fried oyster po boy," he told Serious Eats.
3. You know that he's known for wearing Crocs [4] all the time, but did you know he's been a fan since the very beginning? "I fell in love with Crocs immediately," Mario told AOL Food. "They were originally fishing shoes from Colorado. I started wearing them and the rest is history. I have like 30 little [Jibbitz] things to put [on] them."
4. He can't live without spaghetti [5] or hot sauce.
5. There's a reason that his signature color is orange [6]: it reminds him of being happy. In fact, he once ordered 200 pairs of orange Crocs [7] because the color was being discontinued.
6. He practices transcendental meditation [8].
7. If he wasn't a chef, he'd be a pool boy. "I would be a pool boy in Hollywood [9] or Beverly Hills," he once told Food & Wine.
8. Growing up, he thought he would be a football player [10]. "Then I got the sh*t knocked out of me at age 11," he told Details.
9. Unsurprisingly, his kids weren't picky eaters growing up. He told Time Out New York, "The way to not have a picky eater [11] is for the kids to work with you in the kitchen. Once they've done anything to a vegetable, by the time it's cooked, they're like, 'Yeah, I'm gonna eat this. Of course I'm gonna eat this.'"
10. Everyone in his family knew how to cook [12]. "It was part of the fabric of our everyday life," he told Epicurious.
11. His recommendation for a hangover fix [13]? "Hair of the dog, my friend. Or full on hard exercise for half an hour."
12. He thinks the most overrated food trend [14] is . . . bacon. "I love bacon, but it doesn't need to be in every single dessert or savory dish," he told Time.
13. He's not just on the East Coast! Batali has a line of organic salami at San Francisco butcher Belcampo Meat Co [15].