Brandon Peck
The Jasper | Richmond, VA
DECEMBER 2018
While attending college in Virginia, Brandon Peck rolled sushi at a local restaurant for four years to help pay the bills. Upon graduation, he played in a local band, and he turned to bartending to earn lots of money quickly. His first role behind the bar was at a vegetarian restaurant, Ipanema Café, owned by Kendra Feather. Peck was surprised by how invested he became in the local cocktail scene and began reading to further his knowledge of the ingredients in his drinks.
When Feather opened The Roosevelt, a Southern restaurant and cocktail bar in the Church Hill section of Richmond, she tapped Peck to join the beverage team in 2011. There he learned from veteran Bartender Thomas Leggett and was inspired by the creativity of James Beard-nominated Rising Star alum Chef Lee Gregory. Local Richmond publication Style Weekly named The Roosevelt the best restaurant of the year in 2012, and in 2014, the venue was cited in Esquire’s list of “Best Bars in America.”
In early 2018, Leggett, along with partners Mattias Hägglund and Kevin Liu, brought in Peck to manage the bar at The Jasper, their new speakeasy-style cocktail bar in the Carytown neighborhood of Richmond, and the seat of cocktail culture for the city.
