We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Juliana Aguiar a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Juliana, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

In my industry, it is quite common to have a sovereign chef who is responsible for all creative content for a restaurant or group. Often, a group is able to have a multidisciplinary I+D team. (usually made up of cooks and scientists) creating content.
I work a little differently. Normally I am hired for a specific project.
Example: Renew the menu of a specific restaurant or create a new look and experience.
Or set up a new Spanish tapas bar, Basque food restaurant, etc.
For the last project in the USA I was hired by the owner of a few restaurants in Nashville. The owner told me his idea and I tried to understand and study that idea, giving shape to that concept.
I may tell you how to set up the kitchen if necessary, how we can optimize the functionality of the service and staff, and from there after choosing a team (most of the time this choice is not up to me since I will not be in charge of the official kitchen, but I can comment on ), I started training and teaching cooks to work with that specific concept or culture.
In this process, I  provided tools so that the team can think for itself and be able to resolve issues that arise without jeopardizing the authenticity of the project.
They can give their opinion and suggest new ways of making, products, etc.
It is during this process that many recipes are changed with different techniques of development or by-product substitutions due to the demand of the place where we are.
In addition, it is necessary to adapt to the local taste without turning everything into a kind of “Texmex” thing, wothout corrupting the authenticity of the project.
It seems complex because it takes a lot of knowledge about the food that is being developed and the local flavors. But it is alsoit is amazing the magic coming out of all this elements creating something new.
I am 100% available to better train the professionals who will continue this work. And takes a season or two to implement. Depends on the variety of each project. This whole process is quite powerful as it somehow determines the project’s success, quality, and consistency.
Since the team that stays to continue the work feels somehow committed to this ideology

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

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 become a cook working in different restaurants and catering there. 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 again. For that reason, I moved to San Sebastian, Basque Country. There I spent 2 years working with names such as Andoni Luis Ardoriz and Martin Berasateg.  After this incredible experience, learning with the best of the industry. 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 was exhausted from having all the business and creation on my back. I wanted to work just with the creation without the executive part.

I met Maher Fawaz, partner Owner of Siege Hospitality group, during one of his trips to Madrid. He walked into my restaurant to close 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. In 2016, It was like this that I created my consulting business. 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”.

So my work consists in creating new concepts for restaurants, bars, cafeterias, food, and beverage. I listen to my client’s requests/ needs, and love to please people’s taste buds. I try to implement a disruptive concept of food. Focused to understand the local culture, using local products as much as possible, and adapting the work to the functionality of the kitchen and the staff. This work is never solo. I always work in harmony with the Chef and Sous Chef in charge of the restaurants. I´m doing the creative process, but the beauty of it is trying things and transforming them to add your special flair. Taking into consideration the peculiarities of the culture.
The first time I worked in the USA was around October, it was not the best season for tomatoes. But it is impossible to develop Mediterranean food without good tomatoes flavor. So I and my staff worked with different kinds of preparations to extract the essence of tomatoes’ taste.   I love learning from others, either other chefs as well as my own staff.  One of the cooks had the idea of confit the tomatoes. This is a technique of cooking under olive oil at a low temperature for a long period of time.  And I decided to add miso shiro and brown sugar for the umami taste. This was a goal. I got a way to have the best taste and flavor and to be consistent. 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 powerful; this way the work becomes consistent and successful. So the restaurant can continue on the road without my daily review.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Having boundaries is perhaps one of the greatest creative resources out there. I know many different chefs who want to make use of expensive techniques.
In addition to using lots of products, sometimes imported from other countries, as a fundamental part of their creativity.
When often not having access to expensive products and equipment can make a chef much more creative and inventive.
My most powerful and beautiful creations were made with very few products and simple equipment.
It was a matter of having the knowledge more than anything else.  Less always is more. And at the end the customer wants to eat good food that can touch their soul. More than to get to know a large list of products or techniques.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Yes. I think my goal is to contribute to the others who work with me and to develop skills they don’t know they have. And try to make a good environment in the kitchens I pass through. Show them that respect and talent can be walking by the hands and that sometimes there is nothing to do with strict methodologies and hierarchies. Working in a real team without competition and rivalry can be very inspiring. And this can be the perfect environment to nurture creativity and inventiveness.  Just by understanding the testaments of the concept and culture, we are working in. And creating the culture of a creative team. And try to show to the clients that are much more then just a dish plated with beauty and flavor.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://juliana2aguiar0.wixsite.com/chefjulianaaguiar
• Instagram: chef_ julianaaguiar
• Facebook: Juliana Aguiar
• Linkedin: Juliana Aguiar

Image Credits
Bradley Ryan, Kike Amores