Scarpetta Takes Modern Italian Dining From New York to Rome
With a new restaurant and lounge bar on Rome’s Via Veneto, John Meadow celebrates his indulgent and decadent version of La Dolce Vita.
There’s a whole legion of Italian American TikTokers educating their followers on Italian cuisine, humbly saying that “chicken parmigiana” and “fettuccine Alfredo” have little in common with the country's true culinary tradition.
Restaurateur John Meadow has tried to make the same point as a peddler of quintessentially Italian flavors and traditional dishes since establishing his first Scarpetta restaurant in New York in 2008 — its name referencing the gesture of grabbing the last bits of food on the plate with a chunk of bread.
That's not because Meadow dislikes Italian American cuisine but rather he wanted to honor his roots as the nephew of a Venetian immigrant who moved Stateside after World War II by delivering a modern interpretation of the charming Italian dining experience.
Now he's taking the concept to the source of his inspiration, opening a Scarpetta dining spot and Charlie's lounge bar inside the InterContinental Rome Ambasciatori Palace hotel on the Italian capital's Via Veneto, the street that filmmaker Federico Fellini helped spotlight as the ultimate Dolce Vita destination.
“On a personal basis I love the Italian American cuisine, I love it… The but is, it's not Italian cuisine. Period. And I was always very cognizant because my nonno [Italian for grandfather] never liked it… and in acknowledging the differences, you truly have to accept it as something different. I don't even call it cross-pollinated, I just say it's not Italian food because it's not… By choosing in our restaurant to not be doing Italian American cuisine, we provided an experience that's completely different, which ironically, created an opportunity for us in New York,” Meadow explains, zooming in from Central Park a few days after cutting the ribbon in Rome.
In the 15 years since opening his first restaurant, Meadow has established LDV Hospitality, which stands for La Dolce Vita, a group that currently operates 25 outposts between restaurants and lounges in 10 cities across five countries.
The group name reflects Meadow's approach. “It's [about] something indulgent and decadent and at the same time simple and honest, which is core to our philosophy,” he says.
A charismatic businessman, Meadow's Italian roots certainly helped him conjure a “modern Italian dinner party” vibe for his spaces.
“I mean, when you go to someone's home and there's 10 to 20 people and you connect and have these stimulating conversations, it's aspirational and you get dressed up although in the comfort of home — that is the spirit of Scarpetta… a great mix of glam and something very casual, homey and familiar… the spirit of indulging down to the very last bite. That's what we believe in,” he says.
Taking that concept to Rome was no easy feat. Although the city is not the first international destination for LDV Hospitality — which operates Scarpetta restaurants in Doha, Qatar, and Tokyo, for example — a no-nonsense approach felt mandatory, particularly for this location.
“Italy does not need my philosophy about modern Italian cuisine. What Italy respects [and] cares [about] so much is eating something that comes from the land, what's best from a particular region,” Meadow opines.
In true New York style, Scarpetta Rome is a fancy restaurant with plush velvet armchairs in ruby red and forest green, pastel-toned wainscoting, and leather and walnut wood details. Yet creamy polenta (a northern Italian dish made of coarsely ground corn) and the signature “Scarpetta spaghetti” with tomato sauce, basil and parmesan cheese that any Italian would consider a homemade delicacy are part of the “primi” courses.
When it comes to the main course, Meadow borrowed recipes from his New York steakhouse, American Cut, opened in Tribeca in 2013.
“I believe that one product that Italy says that we do great in America is beef,” he says. “Scarpetta in Rome is a marriage of our core DNA of Scarpetta, the New
York steakhouse and Rome itself. I think that matrimony is what makes Scarpetta in Rome both unique for the
Scarpetta brand… [and] allows us to offer something unique for the city and hopefully to become a part of the community, humbly saying, ‘We're not here to say that our spaghetti is better than yours, we're here to offer a pastrami rib eye from Colorado that's never been offered in Rome',” he adds.
The restaurant features a bar area for pre-dinner aperitivo, and shares an address with the rooftop cocktail lounge Charlie's, also tailored to the location.
“There'll never be another Charlie's; we create
[lounges] specifically for the people and the place. The spirit of live music and DJ and kind of an Old World funky yet elegant decadence – that's the language with which
I'd describe what La Dolce Vita means to me,” Meadow says. “[ Jude Law as the] Dickie Greenleaf character in ‘The Talented Mr Ripley.' That's the feeling that we wanted to bring to the lounge environment.”
LDV Hospitality runs other lounges, including The Seville in New York and Nolita Social inside London's Bulgari Hotel. Up next is a new cocktail bar in Rio de Janeiro, as well as more Scarpettas around the world.
Yet Meadow has greater ambitions.
“It's not just about opening [new outposts], it's about tweaking the concept wherever you go. In Rome we added the steakhouse element; we're doing one in SoHo in
New York next year designed by [architect and designer] Piero Lissoni and that's going to be called Cala Scarpetta [centered on] seafood,” he explains.
Meadow's ultimate ambition is for Scarpetta to become a lifestyle brand, à la Cipriani.
“I'm fortunate that we live in a modern society that restaurants really do become lifestyle brands… It's more than just tagliolini with baked ham at Cipriani, it's more than just sushi at Zuma, it's more than spaghetti at Scarpetta,” he enthuses. “These are people engaging and creating and offering experiences of love for other like-minded people all over the world and that's beautiful. That we celebrate.”