Creating Connections Founder and CEO of LDV Hospitality John Meadow thrives on bringing diners together in culinary hotspots serving up a taste of la dolce vita. Words: Lauren Jade Hill • Portrait Photography: © Briana Balducci
J
ohn Meadow’s affinity for hospitality started
moment to really run with and build the Scarpetta brand,”
early. “As a child I was a hopeless romantic,”
he enthuses.
he says, as we sit down at his restuarant Sette
LDV Hospitality now encompasses a steadily-growing
by Scarpetta, situated in London’s Bulgari Hotel.
collection of restaurants and bars, with Scarpetta-branded
“Age six, I told my mother at Easter brunch that
restaurants located across the US and in London. The first
my dream was to own The Plaza. My first ever
Scarpetta celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2018 by relocating
ambition was this very realm.” After studying at the Cornell University School of Hotel
James Hotel in New York City’s NoMad District.
Administration, Meadow did in fact enter the hospitality
As well as Sette, there are Scarpetta outposts at Gurney’s
world via The Plaza, working at the hotel initially as manager
Resort in the Hamptons, The Fontainebleau Miami Beach and
of the Oak Room and then as Beverage Director. But his
The Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas. The LDV Hospitality
entrepreneurial impulse soon took over. “In 2004, at the age
portfolio also comprises American Cut, Dolce Italian, The
of 24, I opened my first bar,” he says. “It was simple, with
Regent Cocktail Club, The Beach Club, The Seville and Nolita
a roof deck, one of the first roof-deck bars in New York. To
Social – an intimate lounge and cocktail bar tucked beneath
this day it’s one of the best businesses I’ve ever been a part
Sette that opened in 2019.
of, but I wanted more.”
Yet, despite his success, Meadow didn’t set out to
Meadow launched his next project, his debut restaurant, in
establish an entire hospitality brand. “Initially, it was
New York’s Meatpacking District, but without the success of
just about creating,” he says. “My grandfather was the
his first venture. “I went from this wonderful start to failing
patriarch of our family and I always looked up to him. He
miserably,” he admits. “I was 27-years-old and broke, so I
was an architect, so the idea of creating public spaces was
said ‘I’m going to do one more restaurant and this will be my
something that appealed to me from a young age. To me,
career, but if that fails, I’ll go and get a real job’. That’s when
restaurants represent a forum for socialising, centred around
I opened the first Scarpetta back in 2008. We were nominated
this joyous communal indulgence of food and drink. Human
by the James Beard Foundation for best restaurant in the
congregation, people coming together to connect; this was
country after opening and got a three-star review in The
the passion that brought me into it.”
New York Times.” This restaurant’s success marked the beginning of the thriving business Meadow runs today. “It was our ‘aha’
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from its original site in the Meatpacking District to The
To this day, this philosophy guides each of Meadow’s restaurants, with his hospitality group LDV taking its name from ‘la dolce vita’, meaning ‘the good life’ in Italian.
