NYC 50 BesT meals
5 The pasta tasting at Babbo
110 Waverly Place, Greenwich Village (www.babbonyc.com) $$$ Celebrity chef Mario Batali’s flagship New York restaurant has been packed ever since it opened in 1998. The reason for its enduring popularity is the way the pasta preparations—such as wine-stained pappardelle with ra gu and black spaghetti with rock shrimp—meld urbane Manhattan tastes with Italian sensibilities. Reservations are hard to get, but New Yorkers know you can always walk in and get seats at the bar. 165
photographs: noah fecks; julien capmeil
The exterior of Babbo. Opposite, clockwise from top right: The lounge at Brushstroke; Annisa; diver scallops at ABC Kitchen