PROJECT MISE EN PLACE
Grandfathers is the latest restaurant by the From 2000 group, the team behind some of Sydney’s top restaurants like Clam Bar and Pellegrino 2000.
From French and Italian cuisines to a NYC grill, Grandfathers is a late-night Chinese restaurant that’s been packed since opening in August.
Outside a reputation for top-notch food and service, there’s little that ties the four ‘From 2000’ restaurants together.
There is, however, their signature front-of-house jacket.
We first created this jacket for Bistrot 916 in 2021. There’s been some minor variations of it over the years, but it’s remained tried and true over the years and between restaurant concepts. It’s a nice, subtle link between their otherwise distinct venues, using colour to tie it back to each brand and fit out.
- Huw Bennett, Worktones Director
PROCESS NOTES
The jacket idea came from co-owner Dan Pepperall, who had been wearing Worktones in various roles before opening his first venue, Bistrot 916.
He had an old, beaten-up, polyester chef's jacket that he had found in New York and brought back to Sydney. Worktones adapted this reference, making a 100% textured cotton twill jacket that has a wider fit and more structured collar detail.
The 916 jacket was made in white, which they also started wearing at Clam Bar when it opened in 2023 along with a yellow version that matched their brand. Neptune’s Grotto followed in 2024 with purple. With red zigzag carpet and a red hume lighting up the otherwise dimly-lit space, the Grandfathers jacket is, of course, red.
ORDER UP
Front-of-house wear the bespoke red jacket and bar and kitchen wear the Birdy Burgundy. Uniforms are just one of the many bold, grand and endearing things to enjoy in this dining experience.
Within three months of opening, Grandfathers were given a hat by Good Food and took out Broadsheet’s ‘Hottest of The Year’ award.
It’s rare that a hospitality group will use one uniform across multiple distinct venues, but there’s a lot of efficiency in doing so. They are super decisive operators - they know what they want and what works and they’re not afraid to move fast on that intuition.
- Huw Bennett, Worktones Director
We have everything ready with this jacket, so aside from choosing the colour, we can respond to that need right away. It’s one less project for them when undertaking an opening without compromising on a unique, signature uniform that looks brilliant in any space, as they’ve proven again and again.
