Having recently celebrated his first anniversary as General Manager at Huggo’s, we sat for a chat with Nakies Constatinou to review the past year after serving 7 years as Dining Room Manager at Huggo’s on Kailua-Kona’s waterfront. A native of the island of Cypress in the Mediterranean, Nakies moved to Hawaii Island in 2009.
On his watch over the past 12+ months, Nakies has overseen the evolution of Huggo’s bar and lounge to the Hbar known for its contemporary, sexy, fun vibe and noted by critics and guests alike for its hand-muddled cocktails. In fact, since its debut earlier this year, Hbar’s Billy Geinger was named one of the Hawaiian Islands’ “Top 6 Bartenders”.
During summer 2016, Nakies introduced “Sunnyside Up” daily breakfast at Huggo’s to the delight of Hawaii Island residents and visitors, and most recently he launched a wine dinner program that takes place the third Thursday of each month.
The program debuted this month with a quickly sold-out dinner, featuring a 5-course menu by Executive Chef Alan Heap that perfectly complemented the featured Italian wines presented by fine wine specialist Alex Thropp, owner of Westside Wines in Kailua-Kona.
Kudos to Nakies for his great contributions, and be sure to stay tuned for details about the October wine dinner event!