18/05/2026
AURA is my new home in Bucharest, and I’ve been telling you about this project ever since September 2025. I feel truly humbled and happy that my good friend and colleague challenged me to build his wine program for his new home and restaurant: .bucharest
It finally opened its doors about a month ago, and it has been a real challenge indeed. Building a wine list that is ambitious but still feels familiar to the public, understanding the way a completely different market (Bucharest) works compared to my daily reality (Berlin), balancing my personal wine beliefs and preferences with local customer expectations, staying true to the Balkan wine lover in me while still listing must-haves from the European wine world, and finding the right glassware, price points and staff training rhythm.
I am super proud of the 75 labels ready to be enjoyed at AURA, with 11 wines by the glass to fit with the Chapter 1 menu (including some of my current favourite Balkan winemakers), and about 20 labels categorised as “Black Book” (our special and ever-changing rarity list). Baby steps for what I hope will be years of wine collecting.
May 14th marked my first evening service with our growing team, and I couldn’t be more grateful to be surrounded by curious and friendly colleagues. It was a pleasure to move between the tables and receive positive feedback from one of our regular guests, all of it adding to a huge motivation to keep going. Not to mention my husband and father were there to support.
This is not an exaggeration of how much I love my work. I truly do, with all its challenges, ups and downs, midnight calls, and back pain. It was a pleasure to wear my WSET3 pin, and I cannot wait to do it again (and hopefully in one year replace it with a WSET4 one).
See you in service on June 19th!
Love,
your Ramona from Romania
📸 1,3,9 4,5,7,8,13