Grappa is in Dom Branduzzi’s blood. His family runs a bar just outside of Lucca, in the small Italian town where he was born, so hospitality was a part of his upbringing. His parents were bakers and came to Pittsburgh (where his mother was from) with four-year-old Branduzzi to start their business. But the bar remained a part of the family identity, as his uncles and aunts still operated it. “My dad enjoyed wine, but he wasn’t a big drinker. What he enjoyed most was grappa,” Branduzzi said. “Grappa lingered in the background of my life. I heard stories from him about long nights of drinking in what seemed to be a shed of some kind in rural Italy. There were lots of mentions of grappa in these situations. They even went as far as to call the shed they drank at a ‘Grapperia.’”
When the bar space beside Branduzzi’s restaurant Piccolo Forno opened up and he started his own bar there, he knew what he wanted to call it. 10 years on, Grapperia is still going strong, even with its focus on an esoteric, high-proof liqueur.
Ten Years In, Grapperia Lives the Good Life
If you aren’t hip to it, grappa is a high-proof spirit that comes from pomace, the grapes left over from winemaking. It’s typically a digestivo, or an after-dinner drink to stimulate your stomach. After a big Italian meal, it’s a necessity. But grappa is strong, often jokingly called “lighter fluid” or “rocket fuel.” Most consumers don’t have the familiarity with it that Branduzzi does.
“I could remember back to being a kid and my dad handing me the grappa glass. He always had the proper glassware for it. I was 14 or so. As a kid, you’re like ‘this is like rocket fuel.’ But I really came to appreciate it.” If people have any association with grappa, it’s usually that it’s closer to Everclear than wine. But Branduzzi serves all kinds of distillers’ visions of grappa, including Poli and Nonino, as well as sweeter varieties like Grappa Camomille, infused with herbs.
A BYOF Bar
Piccolo Forno is BYOB, and Grapperia operates as the opposite—BYOF from Piccolo Forno. Branduzzi holds late hours and wants his bar to be a place people can relax after a night out at nearby restaurants. A takeout pizza from Piccolo Forno with a glass of Tuscan wine, then a grappa (or two) is my version of a perfect night. But if you’re coming from nearby Umami or Pita My Shawarma, Grapperia can also be the next stop to round out the night. I grew up drinking grappa and schnapps with my Swiss relatives, or the “caffe corretto” espresso with a dash of grappa or sambuca in it. When I moved to Pittsburgh and saw a whole bar dedicated to grappa, I felt like I found a kindred spirit in a new place.
“Spending so much time in Italy, I grew up behind my uncle’s bar. I would see bottles of grappa and bottles of amaro we had never even had in the States,” Branduzzi remembered. “A bar in Italy is different than a bar as we know it. It’s a bit more like a quick reprieve, not a place to just get drunk at. In my dream scenario, I wanted to create an atmosphere like that. And while it couldn’t really be the classic Italian all-day bar where old men are playing cards and smoking cigarettes outside, it’s my own corner of the world here in Lawrenceville.”
Not Just Grappa at Grapperia
To be clear, Branduzzi does not just serve grappa at Grapperia. You can order a beer, or a glass of Tuscan wine, or almost any craft cocktail you can imagine. He’s also observed an uptick in interest in amaro, the darker, more herbal cousin of grappa in the digestivo family. “The funny thing about amaro is I often ended up drinking it as a kid. It was almost medicinal. If I had a cold, my family would poor me a little bit of Ramazzotti Caldo—hot Ramazzotti,” he said. But many healthy adults enjoy amaro, too. Over the past decade, he’s seen people come into his bar and take notes about amaro as they try new things. Popular brands like Averna, Montenegro, Fernet Branca, and Cynar are available at the state store, but Branduzzi stocks lesser-known varieties like Sfumato, Cardamaro, and Spirito delle Dolomiti.
Amaro is perhaps a little more accessible than grappa, with less subtle, more herbaceous flavors. Branduzzi is happy people are embracing the digestivo in any form. “People might have an initial negative connotation [about grappa],” he said. “Maybe their grandfather or their great grandfather drank it. Everybody considers it moonshine. But there’s more to it. Recently, guests come in to see if we have anything new on the shelf. They’ll just stare at the bottles and take mental or literal notes on what they’ve had and what they haven’t had. It becomes almost like a fully educational situation.”
Indulging in a Digestivo
Though Americans are drinking less, that might mean that those that do drink are leaning into the enjoyment and fulfillment of it more. Branduzzi doesn’t want people to think of bars as places where grizzled, miserable ne’er-do-wells smoke in a dimly lit room after a long day of work. There’s a connotation in American culture that drinking is a way to let off steam or numb your feelings. But digestivos are a way to use drinking to enjoy your meal and your time with friends and loved ones more. After a long meal, a digestivo lets you sip on something and decompress, instead of just rushing to the next part of the evening.
Just as it helps you digest your meal, it also helps you take a moment to appreciate the experience more. Branduzzi sees the same philosophy with an after-dinner espresso, which he also serves at Grapperia. Looking at the way Italians drink can help us reframe how we think about drinking for ourselves, as not a maladaptive coping mechanism but an enhancement to our lives.
A drink at Grapperia is a toast to abundance and good times. After all, you only need a digestivo if you’ve had a decadent meal. To Branduzzi, and to me, the digestivo is a symbol of the abundance mindset, that you have everything you need around you. When we’re told to consume and consume yet still feel empty, couldn’t we all use a bit more of an abundance mindset right now? “To me, a digestivo completes a meal. After a nice big meal shared with friends and full of good times, my brain just automatically goes to what amaro will I have. It’s the perfect nightcap,” Branduzzi said.
Story by Emma Riva
Photo courtesy of Grapperia
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