Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/688647
62 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } JUNE/JULY 2016 { q&a } I MET CASSANDRA BROWN, DIRECTOR of Wine, Hakkasan Restaurants (U.S.), two years ago during a meet and greet at the Southern Wine & Spirits of Nevada office. Immediately hitting it off, we quickly estab - lished a great business relationship and, more important, a friendship. We share similar interests in wine and spirits, along with a deeply shared passion for saké. Brown embodies the great balance of the drive of an entrepreneur and the passion of a sommelier. She offers her guests an extensive selection of wine, spirits and saké, and gives them the ultimate restaurant experience. Brown spearheads 11 wine programs for Hakkasan Group's restaurants, which includes Hakkasan, Searsucker and Herringbone restaurants in Nevada. She is a Certified Sommelier Level II with the Court of Master Sommelier (CMS), Certified Specialist with the Society of Wine Educators (CSW), California Wine Appellation Specialist (CWAS) and is cur - rently pursuing the Advanced Certification with the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET). We recently met at Herringbone res - taurant inside ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas to talk about Hakkasan Group restaurants and her expertise in wine. Luis de Santos: How did your wine journey begin and what was your inspiration? Cassandra Brown: It's funny, actually. I have a background in finance, sales and account - ing, but I was first exposed to the wine and beverage industry when I worked as a business manager for a restaurant 15 years ago in Atlanta. At that time there were two things about the industry that stood out to me: First, because I was the business manager, I was always trying to cut costs, so I frequently wondered why the retaurant's wine list was getting printed every day and wasting so much paper ; and second, I spent a lot of time writing checks for the wine or liquor vendors! As it turns out, these inter - actions with the wine vendors became the catalyst to pique my interest in the industry. My taste and preferences for wine grew at this time, too. I became more involved in wine tasting sessions with the restaurant Cassandra Brown, CS, CSW, CWAS, Director of Wine, Hakkasan Restaurants (U.S.) and Southern Wine & Spirits of Nevada's Asian Portfolio Director Luis de Santos, MS, ASP, WSET Level 3 Saké, at Herringbone in Las Vegas. SOUTHERN WINE & SPIRITS OF NEVADA'S ASIAN PORTFOLIO DIRECTOR—LUIS DE SANTOS, MS, ASP, WSET LEVEL 3 SAKÉINTERVIEWS CASSANDRA BROWN, CS, CSW, CWAS, DIRECTOR OF WINE, HAKKASAN RESTAURANTS (U.S.) photo by Mona Shields Payne In Harmony Q: