Mario Batali Calls Otto Pizza "D Bags and Thieves"

When Mario Batali learned of the existence of Otto Pizza, which has locations in Portland, ME and Harvard Square, he did not mince words. "These folks are d bags and thieves," he tweeted. Batali felt that the Portland-based Otto was a little too similar to his own OTTO Enoteca Pizzeria in NYC and Vegas. "Shame on them!" he also tweeted. The two pizzerias do have the same name and a very similar, bottle cap-like logo, but would a small company really have the chutzpah to try to rip off Batali, and would they really assume that no one would realize? And is Batali's empire so threatened that he had to trot out the "d bags?" When Eater asked the local Otto for comment, they said that any similarities were completely unintentional.

· Anthony Allen on Otto Pizza's first year in Harvard Square [-EB-]
· Mario Batali [Twitter]