"The sign still says Babbo, but should it? The restaurant opened by Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich in 1998. Last spring, the powerhouse restaurateur Stephen Starr took it over and brought in the chef Mark Ladner, who rose from the pasta station at Babbo to running the haute Del Posto. When you first glance at the menu, you might think meet the new menu, same as the old menu. It's only when the dishes arrive that you start to see what Mr. Ladner is trying to do."
"The warm lamb tongue salad from the glory days, tucked among truffled mushrooms and tomatoes, roasted to a luster. The poached duck egg that used to tremble on top is gone. Mr. Ladner thought it too rich, and he was right. The classic goat cheese tortellini are as astonishingly light as ever. Yuzu peel instead of orange. Occasionally, the kitchen seems to enter a fugue state. In a holdover from Del Posto, lamb scottadito the lamb chops, were just too big. The meal ends without fireworks."
Babbo reopened under new ownership with chef Mark Ladner reshaping the menu to balance tradition and restraint. Signature dishes return with refined adjustments: warm lamb tongue appears alongside truffled mushrooms and glossy tomatoes; goat cheese tortellini stays astonishingly light with yuzu peel; rabbit proves succulent; minestrone deepens from a mother batch. Strong savory preparations include linguine vongole with cockles and textured breadcrumbs. Shortcomings include oversized lamb chops and desserts that feel inert without a pastry chef, leaving the overall meal competent but lacking a final flourish.
Read at www.nytimes.com
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