Gwyneth Paltrow has been under fire as of late but Mario Batali has nothing but praise for the recently named Most Beautiful Woman in the World.

Paltrow has had a tough few months. First she failed to don underwear with a sheer dress at the Iron Man 3 premiere, shared a tad too much personal grooming information on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, gave away the secrets of her sex life to Chelsea Handler, and dissed the Met Gala.

However, Paltrow also released a cookbook back in April titled It's All Good: Delicious, Easy Recipes that Will Make You Look Good and Feel Great. The food aficionado garnered the attention of Batali when she began dining at his New York restaurant in the '90s.

"She loves to eat and she's also the kind of person that will talk to the chef because she wants to know a couple of tricks," Batali said, according to omg!.

The cook and the actress have become close friends over time and now hosts gatherings of their two families. The duo once filmed a cooking segment, Spain - On the Road Again. The chef says that media criticism is something that comes with titles like the one handed out by People magazine in April, Most Beautiful Woman in the World.

"Anybody who gets called the most perfect person in the world is going to take a little heat," Batali told omg!. "But at the end of the day, she's very much like you and I. She likes delicious food, she watches out for her family. She takes care of herself as best she can and it's a great thing."

Meanwhile, Paltrow will keep attending to the things she is passionate about - her family, acting, and food.

Tags: Mario Batali Gwyneth Paltrow