BarBar Enza, Harvard Square’s newest Italian restaurant, is “not your grandmother’s trattoria,” says chef Mark Ladner, who is collaborating on the project with the Lyons Group (Rochambeau, Scampo, Sonsie, etc.). Located inside the Charles Hotel in the space of two prior Italian restaurants, Rialto and Benedetto, Bar Enza is a “neo-trattoria” with a penchant for bar snacks.

“A lot of the philosophy behind the way that the food is prepared is very traditional,” says Ladner, “but the preparation is a little more modern, trying to be relevant in 2021 — but not losing the nourishing aspects of traditional Italian food.”