At the New Babbo, It’s Batali Minus Batali

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It’s nearly impossible to eat a meal at Babbo, the recently revived Greenwich Village trattoria, without being pummelled by reminders of its past. This can be quite a pleasant experience. For nearly two decades, beginning in 1998, Babbo was one of the most coveted reservations in New York, reshaping how the city—and, arguably, the entire country—understood Italian cuisine and modern restaurant dining writ large. More to the point, it was just a marvellous place to be. It felt essential, intoxicating, urgent, the party-crowded bar area giving way to gracefully spacious dining rooms, the smell of rosemary and wine in the air, the honeyed lighting, the soigné s