DJ:n som tar klubbkänslan in i vinvärlden

Bella Sarris är den väletablerade DJ:n som tagit upplevelsen av naturvin till en ny nivå i Stockholm. Tillsammans med sin vän Thomas Le Guellaff driver hon pop up-baren JUS, som blandar musik och naturvin på olika platser, främst klubbar och restauranger. Pandemin har gett Bella en påtvingad paus i både dj:andet och JUS, men öppnat möjligheten till en ny vinbar.

In your own words, who are you and what do you do?

I am truly a food and wine freak at heart. Right now I am working on turning the upstairs of Ai Ramen Klara into a natural wine bar. I want to connect people through wine, food and music and push the juice that I love.

Why is the wine bar in Ai Ramen your home court? 

At the moment, apart from my kitchen at home, it’s the only place where I can truly express myself.

When everything went to shit, I could no longer travel or play and didn’t have a job, I got the chance to work with two of my favourite things, music and wine. My idea was to turn the upstairs of this ramen shop into a late night natural wine spot for industry people. My pIan is to curate the wine list, play music and also book friends to DJ at the wine parties I host. 

Tell me about when you discovered this place? 

I was invited to work there by a close friend of mine, who recognised the potential of the venue and was hired to do the whole music and visual program. He asked me to do a pop up JUS event serving natural wine. One thing led to another and all of a sudden I was working service and doing the whole wine program.  

Our Vin and Video events worked really well for a while until the restrictions put a hold on our bigger plans. I am very grateful he brought me into easy environment where I have the freedom to work with something I really love. I’m so lucky to be able to continue working with this, playing and having fun with wine and music. 

How do you feel when you are in your element, guiding people through the world of natural wine?

Truly like myself. I am by no means a wine expert, but I have grown up with the stuff and definitely have it in my blood. It’s a bit like music in that I get addicted to sharing something that I love with others and enjoy seeing their reactions to new experiences of wine.

What's the plan for 2021 for JUS and for you? 

While we are still under restrictions I want to learn as much as I can about wine and how to run a restaurant. Then when the time is right I’m going to throw some killer natural wine raves and eventually start something of my own. Whether that’s an import business, a restaurant or both, only time will tell.

Where do you go to drink wine when you’re not working? 

Cafe Nizza, Savant and after 8pm to friend’s places who have a good stash of wine. 

The best restaurant in Stockholm at the moment? Name one! 

Honestly, my place. I am not particularly inspired by the food scene in Stockholm at the moment because I feel it’s lacking in diversity. After growing up in Australia I am very used to having access to a range of different cuisines made in a very authentic way with the best produce. Home cooking is where it’s at for me now, not trendy restaurant food. Comfort food is at it’s best in friends mothers’ kitchens. 

But if I have to name one spot, Su Stockholm, a family run Dim Sum house in Östermalm is super good. Also 800 grader is really the best pizza I’ve ever had. 

When did you come to Stockholm?

I first came to Stockholm in 2014 because Johanna Schneider booked me for Yard Festival. Since then I’ve played at Under Bron many times and consequently maintained a very strong friend group in Stockholm, which was the one of the main reasons I moved here in 2018. 

When did you start playing?

When I was a very young, dumb, but inspired 18 year old after a trip to Ibiza with my school friends.  

When did you start working with wine?

Just after I moved to Stockholm in 2018 I met one of my best friends, Thomas, with whom I have the pop up natural wine concept called JUS. I was also working service at Växthuset (the restaurant above Under Bron at Tradgarden) at the time, and that’s really where I got my introduction to the wine scene of Stockholm. Thomas and I did many events at Trädgården and beyond pushing natural wine and JUS, as we call it, mainly to friends and party people. Unfortunately the restrictions killed all parties and most of our plans for the Summer of 2020. But not forever, there are many many plans in the works, ready to be executed as soon as we have the freedom to do so.