Interview with Chef Vajra Stratigos of Fifth Group Restaurants - Atlanta

Antoinette Bruno:How did you develop an interest in wine?
Vajra Stratigos: When I was ten years old, I was working with my family in restaurants. I come from three generations of restaurateurs, and my dad was really into wine. I don’t see much difference between beverage and food. The food side leads into the beverage side. I trained in food, in the kitchen, in both savory and pastry.

AB: Did you attend culinary school?
VS: No, but I trained in kitchens and staged in Italy and France.

AB: Describe your fondest wine memory.
VS: There were two occasions when I went to visit friends in Provence. Fields of thyme and lavender flanked the house – really beautiful. They had a cottage with a wooden table and stone floors. Neighbors would come to dinner bringing bottles of wine with no labels. I was in my early 20s – it was such a wonderful, formative experience.

AB: Where have you worked previously?
VS: For four years I was a consultant with Whole Foods in Florida. I was part of the opening of Nobu in Vail, and also worked with Real Restaurants in Vail. A few of the directors from Real Restaurants broke away and I worked with them on a few projects in Colorado, one in particular where I was hired to consult on a pastry menu then ended up running the restaurant – 15 Degrees.

AB: What courses have you taken? Certifications?
VS: I finished Levels 1 and 2 with the International Wine Guild and earned the intermediate level wine certificate from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust. I earned my Society of Wine educators CSW certification in 2006.

AB: What is your philosophy on wine and food?
VS: I try not to take anything too seriously. I want wines to be accessible. I think about how your surroundings can affect your sensory perception of a wine, like who you are dining with and your environment.

AB: Do you favor Old World or New World wines?
VS: Old World wines – they have great subtlety, underpinnings, and nuances.

AB: Favorite wines?
VS: I love wines from Austria, Alsace and Northern Rhone. Also the wines of Michel Chapoutier.

AB: Favorite wine resource book?
VS: James E. Wilson’s Terroir; Oz Clark’s Wine Atlas

AB: Tell me about a perfect wine and food match that you discovered.
VS: Sauterne with bread pudding and medium-rare roast beef.

AB: What wines do you collect?
VS: Northern Rhones.

AB: What languages do you speak?
VS: A little bit of French and Spanish

AB: With which person in history would you most like to share a bottle of wine? What would you pour?
VS: Alan Watts, the contemporary theologian. We’d have magnums of Josko Gravner’s Bregg.

AB: What are your ultimate career goals? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years?
VS: I’d like to be on board with a company or group that is developing solid concepts and giving people pleasure and enjoyment.