Rising Stars: Meet Juliana Aguiar

Today we’d like to introduce you to Juliana Aguiar.

Hi Juliana, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I  was born in Brazil in 1974.  I went to a hotel boarding school in Switzerland. Back in Brazil, I studied cinema at college. During a tourist trip to Madrid, Spain, I fell in love with the culture and the people and decided to live there and to become a cook.

Working in different restaurants and catering. Back in Brazil for four years, I became the head chef of  Atelie Culinario,” a chain of nice local cafes and delis. During my tenure, I was managing seven stores and the catering service. Doing a very hard quality control and also training the staff. In 2008 I decided to learn with Michelin stars Chefs and left Brazil back to Spain. For that reason, I moved to San Sebastian, Basc Country. There I spent 2 years working with names such as Andoni Luis Ardoriz and Martin Berasateg.  After this incredible experience, I decided to go back to Madrid and open my own business. In 2011, I opened “Santo Restaurante & Deli” where I worked until the end of 2015.

I met Maher Fawaz, partner Owner of Siege Hospitality group, during one of his trips to Madrid. He walked into my restaurant and asked me to serve him whatever I wanted. At the end of dinner, he invited me to have a glass of wine and talk. By the end of the night, we became friends and he invited me to come over to Nashville to do a residence at Epice.  It was when he got the Idea of doing Lola. Since 2016, I have been working as a consultant for the Siege Hospitality Group in Nashville as well as a Chef in different countries like Spain, Brazil, and the USA. Siege Hospitality Group owns four restaurants: “Kalamatas”, “Epice”, and “Santo” (this one has the same name as my former restaurant in Madrid and is a homage to our infamous meeting) and now “Lola”.

Lola is the one I was in charge of the entire concept creation, menu validation, training staff, and opening the restaurant.  We have had a very fruitions collaboration and “Lola” finally opened this year after a long preparation and a year and a half of pandemic. Lola was created to replicate an authentic modern Madrid tapas bar.

After the job was implemented at “Lola” Maher Fawaz invited me to take on the renewal and revamp of Santo´s Fall menu. Now after six months of hard but rewarding work is time to take a break and recharge back in my beloved Madrid. I’ll be back at the end of March for more incredible stuff in the food business. Stay tuned.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Opening a business is never a smooth road, especially now after we have been extremely impacted in the service industry by the shortage of staff. But I feel we have found the right people and managed to overcome all of these obstacles.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a consulting creative chef, my work consists in creating new food concepts. I love to please people’s taste buds. In a kitchen, your work is never solo and is never just your creating. The beauty of it is trying things and transforming them to add your special flair. taking into consideration the peculiarities of the culture. I love learning from others, either other chefs as well as my own staff.

Everyone can contribute and transform something into something else even more special. I think that’s what sets me apart. I am the head chef, however, I think that my ideas are not the only ones that should be executed. I believe that is what makes the projects; I work on being consistent and successful.

What does success mean to you?
Success comes from the Latin word “succedere” ” successus”, which means realized, done. So to me. When you create something from a concept and transform it into reality is already a success.

Bringing ideas to life and also doing what you love is the best realization in my opinion.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @chef_julianaaguiar

Image Credits
Bradley Ryan