The Orange King in LA: Mario on Kimmel

Eater LA reader Aimee won the Batali challenge on Tuesday (his first restaurant: Po), and she received two tickets to see the mega-orange-haired chef on Jimmy Kimmel Live that same night. After sitting through Fantasia explaining her name (not after the Disney film), the orange Croc-clad Batali finally emerged to set up his panini grills in a masterful display of Batali-related merchandise. In case you missed it, hilarity ensued:

Kimmel and Jessica Biel donned aprons and manned their own panini grills to varying degrees of success. There was the expected ribald banter—Kimmel hit on Biel incessantly, Batali discussed creating a game show called "who's the bottom?" and all the while the magic panini grills did their thing. The food smelled great and I was hoping for an Oprah moment where we all reached under our seats to find $700 worth of salumi and keys to a new car but, alas, no tidbits were offered to the audience. Had a brief Batali sighting in the green room after Fantasia's set but he seemed to be in a hurry to get back to Nancy & Co. at the restaurant.