The first Mario Batali restaurant to open in Boston, Babbo Pizzeria boasts a comfy, casual environment designed by Batali’s creative director, Lisa Eaton, in collaboration with David McMahon of McMahon Architects. Together they crafted the 160-seat venue using a warm, Mediterranean-inspired palette and a smattering of custom touches — such as pendants whose shades evoke upside-down spaghetti colanders. Not as obvious, but nevertheless well thought out, are ceramic tiles custom-produced for Babbo by Imagine Tile.
Avallon tiles figure prominently in the bar area of Babbo. Photo by Kelly Campbell.
Batali’s team collaborated with the company to customize five designs based on found artwork. Four of the patterns — Africa, Antique Floral, Avallon, and Trebol — sport scroll, leaf, and flower-combination motifs and come in an eight-inch-square size, while the simple cream-tinted Holy Grail comes in a six-inch-square format. The tiles’ rustic, earthy colors complement not only the burnt-orange walls, mustard-yellow napkins, and wood furnishings and surfaces throughout, but also the spines of Batali’s own books and labels on Bastianich wine bottles that double as decorative props in Babbo.
From left: Antique Floral, Africa. Courtesy Imagine Tile.
Imagine Tile had previously collaborated on custom product for other hospitality venues such as Nema Workshop’sDespresso and the Adam Tihany-designed Fumo.
From left: Trebol, Avallon. Courtesy Imagine Tile.