Less than a year after Stephen Starr reopened Greenwich Village restaurant Babbowith Mark Ladner at the helm, the chef has apparently left the kitchen.
Grub Street first reported the departure on Thursday, September 17, citing sources inside Babbo. The
reason Ladner left is unclear, and neither Ladner nor Starr Restaurantshas commented. Babbo’s website still lists Ladner as executive chef. Eater has reached out to Starr Restaurants for more information.
The Babbo revival was built largely around Ladner’s return: Starr took over Babbo and its sibling restaurant, Lupa, from Joe and Lidia Bastianich in 2025 and brought in Ladner, who had worked at both restaurants during the Mario Batali erabefore going on to lead Batali and Bastianich’s Del Posto. During Ladner’s tenure, Del Posto earnedfour stars from the New York Times and two Michelin stars.
When Babbo reopened in October 2025, it was an unusual homecoming: One of the city’s most accomplished Italian chefs was returning to a restaurant where he had worked years earlier, this time with Starr giving him control of the kitchen. (Lupa never reopened, and by December, its Bleecker Street space was listed for lease.)
Ladner’s menu bridged the restaurant New Yorkers remembered with Starr’s restaurant style — different from those in the more tailored Batali empire. Beef-cheek ravioli and other Babbo classics remained, while Ladner brought in dishes seen on other Starr restaurant menus, including his 100-layer lasagna. At the time of the reopening, Ladner described Babbo as drawing from 22 regions: Italy’s 20 regions, plus the old and new Babbo.
Babbo first opened in 1998 and became one of the defining Italian restaurants of the time. Batali stepped away from the restaurant group in 2017 following allegations of sexual misconduct and later divested his ownership. Starr kept the Babbo name when he took over, while Ladner offered a connection to the restaurant’s history without putting Batali at the center of its comeback.
Reviews of the reboot were mixed. Grub Street critic Matthew Schneier wrote in December that the new iteration had lost some of Babbo’s original magic. In February, New York Times critic Ligaya Mishan wrote the restaurant had corrected some early stumbles, though portions of the cooking remained uneven.
There may be another change coming to Starr’s downtown New York portfolio: Caper first reported that Ennismore, the hospitality company behind the Hoxton and 25hours Hotels, is buying 11 Howard in Soho, where Starr’s Michelin-starred French restaurant Le Coucouhas been operating since 2016. Headed by chef Daniel Rose (who resides in Paris), the restaurant celebrated its 10th anniversary this spring.
Corporate records connect an Ennismore-controlled entity called 11 Howard St. Leaseco LLC with a planned 25hours Hotel New York. An April 23, 2026, appellate court decision notes allegations by the building’s landlord that the hotel operator had defaulted on roughly $18 million in rent, taxes, and other charges. The court also noted that a separate lawsuit brought by the hotel operator over its “right of first offer” had been dismissed in January. (The provision gave the hotel operator the first opportunity to purchase the property if the landlord decided to sell.)
What that means for Le Coucou is not yet clear: The restaurant remains open, with current job listings, and 11 Howard continues to list it as the hotel’s restaurant. When asked whether Le Coucou will remain at 11 Howard should the sale go through, an Ennismore spokesperson told Eater that they would email with an update. Eater has also reached out to a Starr spokesperson about the fate of Le Coucou.
