Mario Batali's Dinner Playlist

In the Wall Street Journal, Juliet Chung gives us the albums Mario likes to put on for dinner...

Take Five Live by Dave Brubeck w/ Carmen McRae (1961) - A favorite of Mr. Batali's father. "It's a little jumpin' but you don't have to listen to it on loud," says Mr. Batali.

Swordfishtrombones by Tom Waits (1983) - "He was a little bit more of a crooner on that record. It's less high art and just more of the regular, basic, beautiful ballads that he's really a specialist at."

Automatic for the People by R.E.M. (1992) - "Every song on that is an unbelievable masterpiece," he says. "People get goosebumps when they listen to it."

Cesaria by Cesaria Evora (1995) - "The vibe, it's unbelievably sexy."

Cê by Caetano Veloso (2006) - "It's just got this very beautiful, relaxing, not obstreperous rhythm and song to it," says Mr. Batali.