Stephen Starr Is Taking Over New York Restaurants Lupa and Babbo | Eater NY
"Opened in 1998 by Mario Batali and awarded the James Beard Award for best new restaurant in 1999, the restaurant “had few peers among Italian restaurants, serving unusual meats with a side of light decadence,” Pete Wells recalled in the New York Times in 2017, citing the famous goat’s head, lamb’s tongue, head cheese, and beef-cheek pasta with a squab liver sauce. The property was among two iconic Bastianich-family restaurants recently confirmed as being taken over by Stephen Starr (Grub Street confirmed), and Mark Ladner — the Batali‑Bastianich‑era chef who went from opening the sister spot to leading the kitchen at a high-profile Manhattan project — will be running the kitchen. Following sexual assault charges against Batali in 2017, he sold his ownership stakes and the restaurant and its sister site “took hits, never really finding their footing,” despite tweaks in ownership; as Youjin Jung, the executive chef at the restaurant in 2022, said, “This is a new era. The restaurant had been under big shadows. Let’s call it ‘orange shadow with a ponytail.’”" - Melissa McCart
