Babbo
Mario Batali didn’t just introduce us to beef cheeks, he reinvented
the Italian restaurant in
New York. The new Batali outlet, Del Posto, might
be better, but I guarantee
it won’t be as much fun.
Esca
It’s the most pleasant and sedate of the great Bastianich restaurants, and David Pasternack’s seafood innovations—crudi, branzino encased in salt—win
him a place in the pantheon.
L’Iimpero
Alto is impressive
in its high-minded way,
but Scott Conant’s (pictured) flagship establishment
is the more Italian of his
two outposts. A taste
of the braised goat is all
the proof you need.
’Cesca
Sure, the food can
be overwhelming—hulking lamb shanks, pillow-size gnocchi with braised-veal-breast ragù—but with Italian food, that’s the whole point.
Lupa
At dinner, it’s
a madhouse. At lunchtime, on an unhurried weekday, with a steaming bowl
of trippa alla romana before you, it’s the perfect Italian neighborhood joint.