IT’S HALF PAST MARIO

YOU’VE eaten at the Osteria and have Mozza on speed dial. You’ve bought the orange cookware and the Crocs. Now there’s a new item on Mario Batali’s menu: a Swiss watch.

The Ernst Benz Mario Batali Chronoscope has a watch face that’s grooved like an LP, a reference to the celebrity chef’s love of rock ‘n’ roll. The numerals, sweep-hand and watch band stitching are all orange, which any Batali fan worth his Maldon salt recognizes as the chef’s favorite color.

When it came to design input, the chef just had one request: Keep it simple. So the only function besides day, date and time is a stopwatch Batali says comes in handy for timing everything “from eggs to osso buco.�

Only 250 of each size (47 millimeter, 40 millimeter and 36 millimeter, priced at $4,500, $4,100 and $2,500 respectively) will be available through Ernst Benz dealers, John Varvatos boutiques and Batali’s 12 restaurants. And Benz and Batali have pledged $350,000 from the sale of the watches to benefit the Food Bank for New York City.

Time to make a reservation.