Tease me all you want but yes, I did drag my sister to Babbo just because it's one of Mario Batali's restaurants. I remember staying up late watching Iron Chef (the original dubbed version) from the top of my bunk bed and later watching it once Mario became an Iron Chef. I even did a presentation on him for an Italian class in college.
Contrary to what I'd expected, the restaurant is very quaint and almost hidden from the outside-- I don't think we would have found it if we hadn't looked for it.
It's silly, I know. But his food is pretty amazing.