When Alexander and Carlotta “Loti” first locked eyes 32 years ago at a lunch on the outskirts of Mexico City, neither imagined that a decades-long love story would eventually set a table for Austinites in their own homes. “We saw each other eight times in two years,” Alexander laughs. “The eighth time was our wedding.”
Their path wound through Los Angeles and back to Mexico—two kids, a move to Guadalajara, and a thriving after-school English academy that Alexander jokes had him on track to be “czar of English teaching.” Then COVID shut the doors. “We lost everything,” he says, matter-of-factly.
Meanwhile, their grown children had landed in Austin. The couple took a breath, sold what they could, and followed. “I love cooking,” Alexander says. “Austin is a food-truck town. Why not start over?” he mused.
Enter Melissa, a Houston native who left art school for a wine bar and fell headlong into fermentation. “Wine had everything I loved about art—craft, story, territory,” she says. Instead of the restaurant-service sommelier track, she pursued the science-forward WSET path, earning Level III and working harvest in the Texas wine industry. “I like to understand why a pairing works—down to viticulture and enology,” she says. (“She is the greatest wine geek you’ll find,” Alexander grins.)
Alexander and Loti met Melissa, who was running the wine program at a bar in Austin, in 2023. He brought food; she brought bottles; together they engineered menus where flavors clicked like puzzle pieces. Spanish nights gave way to Italian flights, caviar studies, and the early sketches of a French set—each pairing tested, tweaked, and tested again. Guests kept coming back for what Alex calls those “Ratatouille moments,” when a sip and a bite fuse into something bigger than either alone.
By March 2025, the trio took the independent route In May of this year, The Pairing Project was born.
What They Do (and Why It’s Different)
The Pairing Project isn’t a pop-up or a restaurant. It’s an in-home, nine-course guided tasting—nine bites, nine wines, two to two-and-a-half hours that transform a dining table into a traveling classroom.
“We bring everything—plates, cutlery, the works,” says Loti. “You enjoy, we clean, and when we leave, it’s as if we were never there.”
Melissa acts as the master of ceremonies. “Try the wine first,” she’ll cue. Note the acidity and the texture. Then, sample a bite. “Now taste them together.” Guests learn by doing—the chemistry of pairing landing not as theory, but sensation.
They call the current seasonal menu Origins: a passport of fine-cuisine bites fusing culinary cultures that Austin rarely sees on a single table. Mexico appears through moody, layered mole or a bright ceviche—Alexander’s version drifts from the typical heat to a Japanese-leaning sweet mirin lift—while Spain steps in with gazpacho and paella; Italy will whisper through prosciutto or hand-rolled pastas. “We don’t chase trends,” Loti says. “We serve what’s excellent—and often missing—in the local zeitgeist.”
“The goal,” Melissa says, “is that wine and food don’t just match—they multiply each other.”
They buy locally and organically when possible—farmers’ markets, specialty purveyors—and tap trusted distributors for imports (caviar included). On the wine side, Melissa hunts small-lot producers and off-the-beaten-path regions, the kinds of bottles consumers rarely find on retail shelves. “Austin’s consumer wine market can be limited,” she notes. “We like opening that door to wider tastebuds.”
The in-home, nine-course guided tasting is $175 per person (plus tax); $155 per person for parties larger than eight.
(Note: While the team has hosted occasional cocktail-style marketing events, what they’re promoting now is the in-home dinner experience.)
Menus shift seasonally and iterate with the weather (more sparklers in the Texas summer, for example), ingredient availability, and the wines Melissa discovers. Some bites live for months in the test kitchen before they’re “ready for the table.” Feedback is part of the process.
Alexander’s palate comes from his childhood in Mexico City, which inspired him to recreate gourmet food. “I’m an engineer by nature,” he says. “I need challenges.”
Carlotti, the team’s storyteller, frames each course with provenance and meaning. “Where it comes from matters,” she says. “Food isn’t only about flavor. It’s history, place, and people.”
Austin has become a “food city” in the national imagination, but its menus can converge. “Downtown can feel like the same list on repeat,” this former food critic noted.The Pairing Project avoids sameness by combining global finesse and guided education. It’s not fusion for fusion’s sake; it’s intelligence—Mexican brightness meeting Italian structure, a Japanese note polishing a coastal classic—always in service of that multiplying effect.
Six full in-home tastings since May have sharpened the model. The plan now: keep it intimate, seasonal, and deeply personal.
“We want you to feel the pairing,” Alexander says.
“And to understand it,” Melissa adds.
“And to remember the story,” Loti finishes.
Another smaller menu is available for 13–36 guests (cocktail format, 5 bites) at $65 per person. Here’s a glimpse into a menu.
Gazpacho — chilled cucumber and tomato soup, bell pepper, herb-infused olive oil. Branco Porto Spritzer, Quinta Do Vallado & Topo Chico
Caviar Duet — artisanal Belgian waffles, salmon and lumpfish roe, crème fraîche, chives. Domaine De La Ferrandière, Brut Blanc de Blancs, Languedoc, FR
Spring Roulade — cucumber, smoked salmon, cream cheese, dill, capers Domaine Michel, Mâcon Villages 2022, Bourgogne, FR
Tuna Tostada — crispy tostada, ahi tuna, pineapple, cucumber, fried leeks, chipotle aioli. Dautel Riesling 2017, Württemberg, DE
Turkey Enmolada — turkey breast in tortilla, mole, cream, goat cheese, arugula salad. Durand Sancerre Rosé, Pinot Noir, Loire, FR
Prosciutto Bruschetta — tomato estratto, toasted French bread, prosciutto, olive tapenade. Fortemasso, Nebbiolo, Langhe, IT
Paella — saffron rice with chicken broth, peas, and chorizo. Laberinto Tinto “Cenizas Mezcla” 2017, Maule Valley, CL
Wine-Braised Short Rib “Napkin Destroyer” — nine-hour braised beef rib in a bun, homemade mayonnaise, pickled onions. Bodegas Muriel Rioja Gran Reserva 2015, Rioja, SP
Applecello on Vanilla Gelato — apple digestif, vanilla bean gelato, tuille Homemade Applecello
To book a Pairing Project Experience contact:
email: melissa@PairingProjectATX.com Website: PairingProjectATX.com
Instagram: @pairing_project
Facebook: Pairing Project
WhatsApp: (512) 769-3685
If you’ve ever wanted your dining room to double as a wine school, a chef’s counter, and a miniature world tour—without washing a single dish—this is your reservation.