Thomas Pastuszak

Coming Up

Restaurant fluency is often built before formal wine language becomes useful. Cornell University placed Thomas Pastuszak in upstate New York, near agriculture, service, and the Finger Lakes. The practical education started in guest-facing work at Peconic Lodge in Shelter Island, where timing, attention, and room discipline were immediate requirements. Bar and floor work continued at Stella's in Ithaca, New York, where Pastuszak worked as bartender before becoming General Manager. Operating responsibility widened at Stella's sister restaurant in Ithaca, New York, then as director of operations at Stella's and its sister restaurant in Ithaca, New York, from 2009. The formation was regional, practical, and close to daily restaurant mechanics. Wine direction brought that operating base into New York City. Pastuszak became Wine Director at Colicchio & Sons in New York City from 2011 and at The NoMad Restaurant / Make It Nice in New York City from 2012. In that work, a list is not simply assembled; it is made usable through pricing, pacing, staff communication, guest reading, and the fit between bottle and meal. The present body of work extends restaurant practice into labels and trade-facing roles. Thomas Pastuszak is founder of Empire Estate since 2014, founder of Terrassen, founder of VINNY, co-founder of Reboule du Rhône, and Vice President Sales and hospitality of Grand Cru Selections. The through-line is wine selected, explained, poured, and, in some projects, brought into bottle.

Where They Are Now

Sales and hospitality use different muscles, but in wine they meet at trust. Since 2021, Pastuszak has served as Vice President Sales and Hospitality at Grand Cru Selections, working from New York, United States. The role requires fluency with producers, buyers, restaurants, and drinkers, along with an understanding of how a wine program is built before a guest sees the list. Finger Lakes production anchors the other side of the work. Empire Estate was founded by Pastuszak in the Finger Lakes in 2014 as a wine label for dry Riesling.

Signature

Wine focus: Empire Estate and Terrassen. The signature is service logic carried into wine projects: give the drinker a point of access, then make space for discovery. In Thomas Pastuszak’s work, Empire Estate and Terrassen are the clearest bottle-form expressions of that approach, with Finger Lakes dry Riesling, old-vine reds, and rosé placed in the same working vocabulary as a by-the-glass selection: familiar enough to enter, specific enough to continue the conversation.

In Their Words “We have a well-rounded by-the-glass selection, some things that are familiar, some not. The selection is built to give them a point of comfort, and a place to step out of their comfort zone and have a conversation.” “While there, I fell in love with food and wine, fell in love with restaurants, even more so than before, and at some point just decided to go full on into the world of restaurants.”

Honors

Trade recognition has followed both restaurant work and wine authorship. Thomas Pastuszak received Wine & Spirits Magazine, Best New Sommeliers (2012). Forbes named Pastuszak to its 30 Under 30 list in 2013. Food & Wine named him one of its Sommeliers of the Year in 2015.