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Starr Buys Babbo, Lupa


MitchW

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And Mark Ladner will be the chef.  If it's true, this might be good news...

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Now, there are big changes afoot at Babbo. Bastianich, who’s maintained ownership of the restaurant with his mother Lidia and sister Tanya since Batali divested his share in 2019, has agreed to sell Babbo and Lupa to Stephen Starr’s restaurant group, according to people familiar with the deal. The Babbo redux will also mark the return of chef Mark Ladner, who was part of the original kitchen team when the restaurant opened and went on to open Lupa and Del Posto.

Grub Street - https://www.grubstreet.com/article/stephen-starr-babbo-lupa-mark-ladner.html

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 1/31/2025 at 4:58 PM, Wilfrid said:

Did Babbo stay busy? Haven't thought about it in years.

We go a couple times a year. There was a period after the revelations about Batali surfaced but before his divestment that we didn’t go, though.  After he sold his share I got a text from a friend, “is it ok to get the tripe again?” - so of course we did. The room was quite sparse, though admittedly we had a late post-movie reservation.

During the pandemic they had one of the better games going. And it seemed like people picked up on it, as it got busier each time we went. And post-pandemic it just stayed busy. Not impossible-rez busy like in their early days, but there’s been a reasonably full house every time we’ve been since. The crowd has gotten a little older… but then so have I. 

Edited by SethG
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