Anuhea “Anu” Hawkins

Hometown: Kailua, Oahu, HI

Age: 33

Profession: Sommelier, Nove Italiano, Palms

Profile: With a name that translates to “the sweet cool breeze from the mountains,” how could Anuhea—or Anu, as she’s called—be anything but the lovely, down-to-earth sommelier who quietly took N9NE Group and the Palms by storm? After years of cocktailing and bartending, Anu turned her wine hobby into a career when she took up studies with the International Sommelier’s Guild and quickly became assistant sommelier at N9NE Steakhouse. Today, as a full sommelier at Nove, Anu is the one who has an assistant and who maintains the wine lists and stock and teaches the staff to appreciate wine as she does.

Why I Do What I Do: “It’s fascinating! It’s amazing what goes into a bottle of wine—the amount of work, the amount of thought, the amount of effort. And no matter what you know about wine, there’s always more to learn.”

Personal Tidbit: When not attending to the over-21 crowd, Anu attends to daughter Annaliese, 6. Together, mommy and tot get über-girly pedicures as well as play a lot of Mario Kart.

What I’m reading: New Classic Winemakers of California, by Steve Heimoff

Latest Accomplishment: After kicking some serious butt on her Level 1 and Level 2 exams, Anu embarks this month on the nine-month Level 3 ISG exams toward her sommelier’s diploma. Next stop? The grand sommelier’s diploma.

Quote: “Life’s short, eat dessert first.”