Can you believe these are lunch bags? How cute are they?! Lunch boxes sure have come a long way from the Darth Vader and Dukes of Hazzard ones we had in elementary school. Leave it to the master of Italian cooking, Mario Batali, to come up with insulated lunch bags that not only keep your panini hot (yes, he actually had panini in mind when creating them!) but are also super-chic. I’m giving away THREE of them! Read on for my review or jump ahead to find out how to win! THE CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.
I was really curious to see just how well these cute bags actually performed at keeping food hot. I tested out the Satchel (pictured above), which is about the size of a small handbag. I can’t say my testing was entirely scientific, but I gave it my best shot. I grilled three of Mario’s Classic Panini, an absolutely delicious combination of olive tapenade, prosciutto and fresh mozzarella on ciabatta, the recipe for which comes as part of the bag’s packaging. I ate half of Sandwich #1 fresh off the grill – a) I was really hungry, and b) I wanted to sample the “best case” – and left the other half on the plate. I packaged Sandwich #2 in some aluminum foil and let it sit on the counter. And, lastly, I wrapped Sandwich #3 in aluminum foil and stored it in the Satchel. Then I waited for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, Sandwich #1 (left out in the open) was room temperature, as one might expect, and the cheese was rather chewy. Not great. Sandwich #2 (packed in foil only) was a bit warmer, a little soggy but generally tasted all right. Sandwich #3 (packed in foil and stored in the Satchel) was as hot as when I’d put it in the bag! I couldn’t believe it. I honestly hadn’t expected there to be any notable difference from wrapping in foil alone. The only issue was somewhat gummy bread, an unavoidable casualty of steam being trapped inside the foil. But overall, the Satchel turned out to be an excellent way to keep hot panini hot. Bravo, Chef Batali!
Win a Mario Batali Lunch Bag of Your Own!
To enter, leave a comment on this post about your favorite lunch box from childhood. Mine? Well, I loathed it at the time but in retrospect I feel proud to have carried the old Tupperware Pak n Carry lunch 
box in red. THREE winners will be selected at random to receive their choice of one of the following three super-stylish Mario Batali lunch bags: the Satchel, the Messenger or the Collapsible Tote. Great holiday gift! The entire line is now available at eBags (10% of the sale of each bag benefits The Lunchbox Fund and Food Bank For New York City). Apologies to my international readers – we can only ship the prizes to the U.S. Contest closes Wednesday, November 12 at 12 PM PST. THE CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.
>Ready to buy a panini press? Check out my Panini Press Buying Guide for the features to look for.
>Want more panini recipes? See my Recipe Index for a list of all recipes on Panini Happy.
>Traveling to a new city soon? Browse Panini Happy’s Great American Sandwich Guide to find the best sandwiches across the country!
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My favorite lunch box was this yellow metal sesame street lunch box that rusted out in way too short a time….darn FL humidity!
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These lunch bags look and sound great. I had metal lunchboxes , but I can’t remember the pictures on the outside. I do remember the thermoses.
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My favorite lunchbox was a My Little Ponies lunchbox.
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My favorite lunch bag was a fresh crisp brown bag.
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I only had one lunchbox as kid. A big yellow one with ants painted all over it. Looking back now, that thing was fun!
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I still miss my bright blue plastic lunch box with astronauts on the outside and on the thermos.
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i adored my My Little Pony lunch box, it was the best…especially when mom put in a cute note for me
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I had a cute, plastic “Little Twin Stars” (Sanrio’s little twins Kiki & Lala) lunchbox when I was 5.
I remember I didn’t love having lunch at school, and only my lunchbox and my coordinate dishes and cup made me smile!
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I loved my 3 Stooges lunch pail. It had a picture of Larry, Mo, and Curly, not Shemp. It always smelled like banannas but I loved the metal lunch box with the matching thermos.
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I had a metal Snoopy lunchbox that I was crazy about as a kid!!
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I would have to say strawberry shortcake!
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Hmm. My favourite lunchbox is actually one I got during high school. It was a metal box that said, “I’m a Pepper” on it, in reference to Dr. Pepper. And the sides had an array of white stars on the Dr. Pepper red. It was amazing. I liked to keep a can of fruit, a granola bar, a spoon, and whatever extra I happened to grab from the pantry in it. :]
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I had a hand-painted lunch box, big and metal and clunky, which was given to me by a close family friend long before I was even old enough to be going to school.
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My favorite childhood lunch was an extra packed by my best friend. My mother died when i was very young so my best friends mother was kind enough to pack me one. It contained a Capri Sun, a small package of pringles chips, a smoked turkey sandwich on kings Hawaiian sweet rolls with a pickle, and some candy treats.
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I had a metal My Little pony lunchbox, I used to love that thing. But as I grew up I also has the same red Tupperware Pack and Carry container that you listed above. In fact my mother still has the thing in her cabinet.
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David Cassidy all the way baby
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I love lunchboxes! I collect the metal cartoon ones – most of which I originally had in childhood but destroyed. My favorite today is a Fat Albert & the Cosby kids on display in my restaurant, but my favorite when I was a kid was a Smurfs one.
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It was all about my Flintstones soft vinyl lunch box with matching thermos.
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I also had a tupperware one, but my favorite was a McDonalds version (I think it was also tupperware). I loved carrying that one to school – with the golden arches handle… Now that I’m thinking about it, I might have to see if I can find one out there for my kiddos.
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my favorite lunchbox was a small metal box with picture of a boy and a girl playing.
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I wanted a cool lunch box when I was little – we were poor – and got free lunch at school. Now my four year old has about five and he doesn’t even take his lunch – his favorite is WALL-E.
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Charlie’s Angels. Metal. Awesome. I wish I still had it.
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I’m not gonna lie; I didn’t have a lunch box as a kid. My parents were non-native Americans and as such my rare packed lunch came in a glamorous plastic bag, usually filled with a foil-wrapped sandwich. This is why my possible future children will receive molded eggs in their bento lunches. However, I can’t deny that my French father knew how to keep a simple meal delicious–I was packing brie or prosciutto sandwiches in the sixth grade.
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I remember having a plastic ninja turtles lunchbox that I loved, but the one I always wanted was a metal lunchbox, but apparently they didn’t sell them where I live.
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I used to carry a Holly Hobbie lunch pail with a matching thermos inside that would leak all over my lunch and make it soggy. So sad.
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I had a blue denium metal lunchbox with red flowers on it and I loved it …….
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Mine have to be similiar Stainless Steel Lunch Box here
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41TWJCjmWnL._SS400_.jpg that I remember when I was still in Vietnam, I still feel the nostalgic every time I seen something similar
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My favorite was a Sky King lunch box.It was metal and way before your time.I really love your blog and I reccomend it to all…
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I had a Stawberry Shortcake lunchbox, and my mom put Strawberry milk in it Every. Day. Although I always though that the kids that got to BUY their lunch were so cool….
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Teenage mutant ninja turtles without a doubt.
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I too had a barbie lunch box as a kid. These days I use my recycled grocery bag to take lunches to work.
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Favorite lunchbox as a kid: Josie and the Pussycats metal lunchbox. It had an insulated thermos for soup.
Hubby carries a small igloo for his frozen/microwavable lunches, and I used to use small inusulated newborn milk bags. I used to work at a hospital, and if a new mom needed extra formula, the nursery nurses raided the sample packs, and passed out the insulated bags.
I found your blog from TipNut, and I’ve been drooling 8^)
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Aww…..
I can’t seem to remember which ones I had. My guess would be a Holly Hobbitt one. As I got older, I remember the Tupperware ones that had the little snack cups and lids in them.
I too remember thinking the brown bags were cool because all the big kids had them.
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My favorite was my Little House on the Prairie lunch box in 3rd grade!
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Can I just say that the striped bag is tres glam? What a cute accessory when wearing your favorite jeans. And you can carry a hot sandwich in it, to boot! Can’t do that in your Prada bag, that’s for sure.
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wasn’t it every little girl’s dream to have a barbie lunch box???? i wanted one so bad that i actually got it as a birthday gift! (i am an august baby so bday gifts usually consisted of some must-haves for the new school year LOL). i absolutely loved my barbie lunch box and used it for 3 years straight!!!!!
ps – these new “keep-it-hot” lunch totes are too cool! a panini sandwich kicks a regular sandwich’s butt
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My favorite childhood lunch box was a yellow, plastic, Peanuts (Charlie Brown & Snoopy) monstrosity from the 1970′s. I loved that thing. In fact, I’m still a big fan of Charlie Brown & Snoopy today.
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I had a Partridge Family metal lunch box in kindergarten. Right now I carry a Harrod’s bag my mother-in-law brought back from London for me. It’s a tie as to which one I love more!
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I’m sure I had many, but the only one I can think of is a soft-sided velcro one. It was teal. It looked like a brown paper bag, but it was made out of a flexible plastic material. Not very exciting.
These, on the other hand, are pretty sweet!
Thanks!
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I had a pink plastic lunch box with the rounded top with my name & flowers on it all done in puffy paint.
It was the same shape as the metal ones you see construction workers with. I loved it and still wish I had one now. Thanks for the awesome contest!
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i had a hello kitty lunch box with a thermos, it is lost now, man i wish i still had that thing.
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My favorite lunch box growing up was a pink plastic My Little Pony box with a matching thermos. One day, when I was a bit older and hadn’t used it in a while, I looked in the cabinet for it and it was gone. I asked my mom where it was and she said she had thrown it away. I was devastated, even though at that point I didn’t really use it anymore. Later in life, I heard a song with the lines “whatever happened to my lunch box/when came the day when it got thrown away/don’t you think I should have had some say in that decision” It pretty much summed up my childhood lunch box experience.
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I didn’t have a lunch box
I had to eat in my school’s cafeteria, which served vile concoctions like tuna noodle casserole with peas. Ick, ick, ick!
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A white vinyl lunchbox with Donny and Marie Osmond on it. Wearing purple outfits, of course.
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I definitely adored my Wizard of Oz lunch box, complete with a matching thermos. I think I still have the thermos, actually…I should try to revive it.
Anyways, love the bags!!
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My favorite lunchbox growing up was pink and had strawberry shortcake on it! Now I have a boring cream and green colored one….I could really use one of these!
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I lived too close to school to stay for lunch (until the new building was finished). After that, it was brown bags, by then I was in the 5th grade, so it was “uncool” to carry a lunch box.
I’m still brown bagging it, but w/ a blue canvas sack. Thanks for the review of the bags, they sound wonderful!
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Ha! This is great! I had a Magic School Bus lunchbox with matching thermos. Oh man did I wear that baby out. If I remember right there was a lizard named ‘Lizzie’ on the show and she was my favorite…
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Ooh this looks great! My favorite lunchbox was a seafoam green Little Mermaid plastic lunchbox with matching thermos … I loved both of them!
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Lunchbox… oh my favorite was my Holly Hobby. After the brown bag phase, I had a small plastic bag which I used for. ever. until it finally disintegrated. Then following a trip to London I bought a Harrod’s bag which I stuffed daily with various sizes of colorful Tupperware containers. Everyone laughed at how many containers I would pull out of my small lunch bag… like a clown car for lunches!
But I always had the last laugh as my lunches were by far the healthiest and most fun! 
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