An Italian State of Mind

Bespoke’s new era blends Italian espresso and aperitivo traditions

By Katie Schmidt  »  Photos by Madeline Gray

Bespoke Coffee & Dry Goods was originally launched as a clothing brand that served coffee. Then it evolved into a coffee shop that sometimes served wine and beer. Now, it has dropped all its extraneous descriptors and is simply “Bespoke” — a neighborhood bar with a coffee program. But even that merely scratches the surface.

Robby Dow, originally from Hillsborough, North Carolina, bought Bespoke from its previous owner, Chris Batten, in 2024. He quickly got to work developing a bar that would conceptually sit at the intersection of Italian aperitivo and espresso culture for the popular spot physically sitting at the corner of Princess and Second streets. During his nearly four-year stint working at the renowned Brooklyn bar Grand Army, Dow specialized in incorporating Italian liqueurs like amaro into cocktails.

For those who aren’t well-versed in amaro like Dow (who can casually drop details from Brad Thomas Parsons’ book “Amaro” in conversation), the Italian word simply means “bitter” but encompasses an array of flavors. Popular cocktails like spritzes and negronis incorporate amari — the plural of “amaro” — such as Campari and Aperol. Then there’s Fernet-Branca, a sort of minty, borderline menthol-tasting amaro that’s likely what your favorite bartender winds down the night with, while more casual amaro drinkers may end their night — and meal — with an Amaro Nonino, known for its hints of burnt caramel.

While Italy originated amaro, America is widely known as the birthplace of cocktails as we think of them today. “The cocktail was the first piece of American culinary history that people came for from all over the world because we were the inventor of the modern cocktail,” Dow says. Fast-forward 100 years post-Prohibition — when bartenders had to mask the poor quality of available spirits with more ingredients — and American cocktail culture has evolved to embrace spirits from across the world. “In the U.S., and more specifically at Bespoke, we’re taking these things that were consumed in Italy and then manipulating them and adding them into American cocktail techniques,” Dow says.

One of the bartenders at Bespoke, Spencer Vaughan, says amaro in particular is well-suited for cocktails. “They cocktail really well,” he explains. “Because cocktails are often built on that balance of bitter and sweet, and amari have both those qualities in themselves, which as a bartender you can use to your advantage. They’re almost basically ready-to-drink cocktails.”

On Bespoke’s menu, this comes to life in drinks like the Midnight Cowboy (mezcal, Amaro Nardini, Cocchi Americano and grapefruit); Double Play (overproof bourbon, Abano, Cafe Lolita and orange); and the White Negroni Sbagliato (Suze, blanc vermouth, prosecco and cucumber).

“The thing that’s really nice about bitter and aperitivo drinking culture is that generally it’s not too heavy,” Dow says. “An Aperol spritz is fairly light, and a negroni too — yeah, it’s strong — but it’s juicy and bitter. It’s not like you’re having decadent drinks.”

If customers at Bespoke aren’t quite conversational in amari, the staff is happy to walk them through an experience based on their level of exposure and flavor preferences. Vaughan describes the expansive flavor profiles of amari as one of its perks. “If someone comes in and is typically a Scotch drinker, we’ve got a smoky rhubarb amaro they might be a fan of,” he explains. “Or if they’re into sweeter drinks, there’s Nardini. It’s about having that conversation and being approachable.”

With a vintage amari license under his belt, Dow was able to stock the back bar with bottles dating as far back as the 1960s. For Holly Lynn Phillips, a regular at Bespoke with a WSET Level 3 certification — an advanced qualification for wine professionals and enthusiasts — part of the appeal is exploring the variety of amari options, no matter their decade of origin. “The thing I’m obsessed with about Bespoke — and what I love about what I get to do with wine — is that it’s all about the aroma, the story, the flavor and the vibe of the drinking experience,” Phillips says.

Originally from Winston-Salem, Phillips first tried amaro while traveling in Italy. “I’m there eating all this food, drinking all this wine, eating more food, and then we’d order this little amaro, which is a digestif, to roll it all down,” she says. “I loved the history of it — that it was used for holistic, medicinal purposes — and that, like wine, there are so many different flavors and profiles.”

Like the bars you’d find pouring amaro in Italy, Bespoke isn’t just a nighttime spot. Its hours are 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., serving coffee and espresso all day. “That’s the appeal of a neighborhood bar to me,” Dow says. “You can come here at any time of day and depend on us being here, so you can have a coffee that maybe shifts into a beer that maybe shifts into a negroni.”

Vaughan agrees, adding, “The goal is to be a reliable neighborhood bar where the quality of the drink — and that applies to the coffee, too — speaks above everything else.”