{"id":291740,"date":"2025-10-10T10:46:44","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T10:46:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/291740\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T10:46:44","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T10:46:44","slug":"scabby-the-rat-joins-the-line-for-babbo-in-greenwich-village","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/291740\/","title":{"rendered":"Scabby the Rat Joins the Line for Babbo in Greenwich Village"},"content":{"rendered":"

The long-awaited reopening of what\u2019s now Stephen Starr\u2019s Babbo<\/a> is one of the hottest reservations in town, a caldron of buzz for more reasons than one. Starr hired Mark Ladner, Mario Batali\u2019s former right hand, who started at sibling spot Lupa<\/a> (that Starr also purchased) and rose the ranks to lead the kitchen at what became the Michelin-starred Del Posto. But Babbo also has ghosts to contend with: Batali exited the company in 2017<\/a> after a sexual harassment scandal. On at least one occasion, Scabby the Union Rat and a few protestors have held \u201cBOYCOTT BABBO\u201d signs.<\/p>\n

The rat has come up from D.C., where activists have pushed to unionize workers and filed complaints<\/a> against Starr with the National Labor Relations Board over alleged labor law violations at three of his biggest D.C. restaurants: Starr\u2019s nearly two-year-old French bistro Pastis<\/a>, seven-year-old steakhouse St. Anselm<\/a> (the original NY locations of each are not involved in any unionization efforts), and Le Diplomate<\/a>, Starr\u2019s perennially packed brasserie on 14th Street since 2013.<\/p>\n

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Screenshot<\/p>\n

United Here 25<\/a> has been targeting these D.C. restaurants since January, alleging \u201cunjust working conditions\u201d like lack of health insurance and sick time. Some workers, along with a D.C. Starr restaurant rep, claim the union<\/a> used \u201ccoercive tactics\u201d to intimidate workers to side with the union particularly at St. Anselm, \u201cpromising immigration assistance in exchange for voting yes \u2026 unfairly and inappropriately influenced\u201d the results. (Pastis staff voted no and the union is still pushing for Le Diplomate, though the staff opted not to hold a vote.)<\/p>\n

Now the group has moved north, targeting Babbo. Diners may have to cross or pass picket lines (whether or not they contain actual Starr employees), to enter the restaurant to try Ladner\u2019s cooking, which will feature Babbo classics like the 100-layer lasagna, and beef-cheek ravioli.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, workers allegedly protesting the unionization efforts have posted a website called \u201cServing the Truth.\u201d <\/a> \u201cWorkers at Le Diplomate, Osteria Mozza, The Occidental and Pastis have made their choice: no union,\u201d it reads. \u201cIn fact, union interest among workers in three of the four restaurants is so low that UNITE HERE Local 25 has never even asked for a vote.But Unite Here Local 25 continues to push a false story.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Benjy Cannon, director of communications at Unite Here 25, which represents 7,000 restaurant, hotel, and casino workers around D.C., the rat appeared because, \u201cI thought it was tasteless and gross that Stephen Starr chose to keep the Babbo name given the accusations against the chef when it was last open. We\u2019re asking New Yorkers to stay away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Starr, as we know, is no stranger to NYC. He owns Le Coucou<\/a>, Upland<\/a>, La Mercerie<\/a>, Le Cafe Louis Vuitton<\/a>, and Pastis <\/a>(with Keith McNally), and even at legacy Buddakan<\/a>, he just switched up the chef to Danny Bowien<\/a> of Mission Chinese fame. In New York, he\u2019s received little scrutiny over his labor practices \u2013 or if he has, he has come out unscathed.<\/p>\n

Notably, the United Here protestors have not alleged wrongdoing at Babbo. Their objections remain with Batali\u2019s history and Starr\u2019s D.C. restaurants. In a release, the group said, \u201cStephen Starr is reviving Babbo in NYC years after its closure following allegations of sexual harassment against its previous chef, Mario Batali, when it was under different management,\u201d continuing to cite only claims tied to Washington.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne cook at Starr\u2019s Pastis claimed a supervising chef grabbed her neck from behind and shook her,\u201d the release states, adding, \u201cStephen Starr should take a stand against sexual harassment instead he abdicated responsibility saying in an anti-union [message] that sexual harassment is everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Babbo boycott is an expansion of a months-long boycott of STARR-operated restaurants in Washington, D.C \u2013 Le Diplomate, The Occidental, and Osteria Mozza over the company\u2019s union-busting,\u201d the group continued.<\/p>\n

Cannon says he expects the rat will make ongoing appearances outside Babbo. Starr\u2019s team declined to comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The long-awaited reopening of what\u2019s now Stephen Starr\u2019s Babbo is one of the hottest reservations in town, a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":291741,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,84502,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-291740","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-newyork","12":"tag-newyorkcity","13":"tag-ny","14":"tag-nyc","15":"tag-nyc-labor-news","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115349474056457577","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291740\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}