Mario Batali is checking out the competition. The superstar Babbo and Del Posto chef donned his signature orange Crocs and a pink scrunchie to the sneak peek of new Italian eatery Isola Trattoria & Crudo Bar inside the old Imperial No. 9 space at the Mondrian SoHo. Sources tell us Batali arrived to executive chef Victor LaPlaca’s (formerly with Todd English) newest creation alongside Boston’s James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Schlow and Food Network’s Amanda Freitag.