Batterberry was born on April 8, 1932, in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, his American parents having relocated there while his father was working for Procter & Gamble.
Batterberry attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology, but dropped out to move to Venezuela with his family, where his father was establishing P&G's presence in Latin America.
[1][3] Later renamed simply Food & Wine, the magazine's mission was to be a more down-to-earth alternative to Gourmet and its "truffled pomposity", while appealing to both women and men as readers, with early issues featuring articles by such non-traditional food writers as George Plimpton and Wilfrid Sheed.
[1] The couple started Food Arts in 1988, a trade journal aimed at restaurants and hotels, which was acquired by M. Shanken Communications the following year.
[1] The foundation's president Susan Ungaro called the Batterberrys "legends in the culinary publishing world", having "started a hallmark magazine that people still look to today" after three decades in print.