Sporting a shock of auburn-ginger hair and a tight-fitting T-shirt that shows off forearms studded with tattoos, restaurateur Sebastien Auvet gives off a first impression similar to a SoCal surfer dude. The vibe at Vin Sur Vingt, a New York City-based wine bar brand the Frenchman brought to Logan Circle in late March, is similarly casual.
Auvet, who opened his first shop along with business partner Rakesh Chandiramani in 2011, is not a classically trained sommelier. He earned his chops in a series of high-end hospitality gigs in New York after moving there in 2003. After spending years learning from restaurant colleagues and studying different styles of wine at each job, he felt he was ready to lead his own neighborhood place.