Cork and Flame

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

The Story Behind the Restaurant

Cork & Flame traces its roots to 2004, when Roger Strohl — a wine aficionado originally from Shelbyville, Illinois — opened The Vineyard Wine Market in Evans, Georgia. After relocating to the Augusta area in 1999, Strohl channeled a career in pharmaceutical sales and years of cross-country wine hunting into building what quickly became the CSRA's premier wine shop. Thirteen years later, he joined forces with a team of local food and wine enthusiasts to open Cork & Flame in 2018, folding the wine market into a full fine dining experience under one roof.

Progressive American Cuisine, Open Flame

The kitchen's defining characteristic is its open Argentinian hearth, where most of the menu is cooked over oak or hickory wood flames. The result is what Cork & Flame describes as "elegantly innovative Progressive American cuisine" — a style that emphasizes local and regional ingredients while drawing on international techniques and influences. The seasonal menu changes with what's available, and the creativity of the cooking, paired with the drama of live fire, makes for an experience that stands apart from anything else in Columbia County.

A business-casual dress code and a strong preference for reservations set the tone: this is a deliberate, unhurried evening out.

Wine at the Center

Walk into Cork & Flame and you pass through the wine market first — over 1,100 square feet stocked with hundreds of labels, refreshed regularly so there's always something new to discover. The market is open Monday through Saturday from 11 AM, well before the restaurant begins service at 5 PM. A majority of the staff hold WSET certification, which means the wine conversation at your table goes well beyond reciting tasting notes.

That depth of wine knowledge earned Cork & Flame the Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence in 2024 — a recognition the restaurant has built on consistently, having held Wine Spectator awards every year since 2020.

Winemaker's Dinners and Special Events

Beyond nightly service, Cork & Flame runs one of the more ambitious events calendars in the region. Winemaker's dinners bring producers from across the globe — Burgundy, Napa, Chile, Argentina, and beyond — to sit at the table with guests and pour through their portfolios alongside thoughtfully paired fare. Past events have featured names like Dunn Vineyards, Realm Cellars, and Chilean winemaker Cristian Vallejo of VIK. A Guest Chef Series adds another dimension, with visiting chefs — including North America's leading Indian chef, Vikram Vij — taking over the kitchen for multi-event weekends that include cooking classes and ticketed dinners. Weekly wine tastings every Friday and Saturday from 5–7 PM require no reservation and keep the wine market lively throughout the week.