The Other Critics

Batali Reaches for the Stars

Photo: Courtesy of Del Posto

We suspected the loss of a Michelin star had weighed heavily on Mario Batali when a call for new sous-chefs at Del Posto went up a day after the setback, and now, speaking about the elimination of the restaurant’s enoteca, Batali tells the Feed: “We’re going to get our second Michelin star and a four-star New York Times review this year, and this is how we’re going to do it.” Ha! So Mario is still making the claim that earned him ridicule the first time, when he only ended up getting three stars from the Times (while getting three out of five stars from Adam Platt). Actually, Mario has been waiting for the Times to revisit the restaurant for three years now, and while it’s not inconceivable that Sifton would do so (Bruni’s first review was a rereview of Babbo, after all), it also seems like Sifton is going to be more tied up with outer-borough cheap-eats spots than Bruni was. It may just be time for Mario to give up the dream.

Batali on the changes at Del Posto [Feed/TONY]

Batali Reaches for the Stars