New Yorkers have recently become accustomed to Australians’ bringing their flat whites and foodways to the city, particularly at cafes. Jason Scott, a Sydney transplant, has a different idea: He’s going to bring America to New York.
Mr. Scott, 44, plans to open Gran Tivoli, an Italian restaurant, in NoLIta, in February. Peppi’s Cellar, his basement bar just below the restaurant, opened last week.
Mr. Scott’s love affair with the city, and the country, began in the early ’00s when he lived and worked here for two years. Anyone who has visited his Sydney cocktail bars will recognize their American aesthetic, with speakeasy-style hidden entrances and vast American whiskey selections.
“You can definitely see my affection for the American culture” he said.
Mr. Scott, an owner of Peppi’s Cellar, opened some of the most popular cocktail bars in Sydney.CreditJeenah Moon for The New York Times
After his time in the United States, Mr. Scott opened his first bar, Shady Pines, and stocked it with whiskey, beer and bowls of unshelled peanuts, and established a western, honky-tonk atmosphere. His next bar, the Baxter Inn, had even more whiskey and emulated an old East Coast tavern. His third, Frankie’s Pizza, was meant to mimic “an ’80s L.A. rock bar,” he said. (Mr. Scott recently sold his interest in all his Sydney properties.)
All three bars are in subterranean spaces. Peppi’s is no different.
“I always liked descending into a bar,” Mr. Scott said. “Something about it feels right. And I like having no windows in a bar. It feels like you’re tucked away from the world.” (He joked about his effect on Sydney: “One real-estate broker said I single-handedly, with my business partners, doubled the price of basement spots.”)
Peppi’s also has a speakeasy entrance down a narrow, winding staircase at the back of the restaurant, and the interior features exposed brick and saloonlike clusters of tables and bentwood chairs.
Among Peppi’s staff are veterans of the Baxter Inn, including the general manager, Lewis Jaffrey. They have brought over one of Baxter’s trademark drinks, a simple highball made from bourbon and freshly squeezed Granny Smith apple juice, to win over any whiskey skeptics. “We’re going to push it,” Mr. Scott said. “One taste and they say, ‘I think I like whiskey.’”
The food at Gran Tivoli will be by Robert Marchetti, a noted Australian chef who has worked at Icebergs Dining Room and Bar in Bondi Beach and at North Bondi Italian Food in Sydney. The menu will include Roman cuisine.
One final barroom touch at Peppi’s is all Scott: carpeting. “I love carpet,” he said. “Acoustically, it’s much easier. It feels a bit safer. You could fall over and you’re not going to hurt yourself.”
Gran Tivoli and Peppi’s Cellar, 406 Broome Street, no phone, grantivoli.com.
