Christine Parkinson leaves Hakkasan

Hakkasan’s longstanding head of wine, Christine Parkinson, has reportedly left the restaurant group in a sudden and unexpected move.

The drinks business has approached Hakkasan for comment but, at present, no statement has been forthcoming.

The news broke yesterday (17 September) with a report on Imbibe.

Parkinson is a well-respected on-trade industry veteran and has been a part of the Hakkasan Group since 2001.

As well as helping design lists that have been widely praised for their inventiveness and scope – Jancis Robinson MW once called her the “one of the most creative wine buyers in the UK” – Parkinson has helped develop and nurture a host of sommelier talent through a training programme she had devised.

She went on to head up the group’s wine and sake operations worldwide as it expanded to the US and Asia and also created one of London’s first major sake lists at Sake No Hana.

Sharing her love for both wine and Sake, Parkinson is a WSET Certified Educator, and has run wine and sake courses for Hakkasan staff across three continents, leading Hakkasan Group to win WSET Educator of the Year.

As a result of her efforts on the drinks side of the business, Parkinson has been routinely heaped with awards and acclaim by numerous publications, not least the drinks business and Wine List Confidential.

The group has had a rocky last few years recently however and went through a round of redundancies and Parkinson’s departure blows a further, sizeable hole in its hull.

Read more: Unfiltered with Christine Parkinson MW