Chef Ahu Hettema and her mother, Chef Nili Yildirim
Istanbul Hawai‘i
When Chef Ahu Hettema curates a wine list, she draws from the same wellspring of cultural memory that informs her cooking at Istanbul Hawai’i. The executive chef and owner, whose Honolulu restaurant has earned consecutive accolades, approaches wine pairing with intentionality. She aims for a guest experience where Anatolian tradition meets Hawaiian terroir.
Chef Ahu Hettema’s Winter Wine Picks
For this winter season, Hettema has selected four wines that trace an arc from the sun-baked landscapes of the Eastern Mediterranean to the treasured vineyards of Burgundy. Each bottle speaks to her heritage, where wine and food have been intertwined for millennia.
Yatir “Forest” Negev Highlands, Israel (buy now)
This bottle delivers “Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah from the edge of the desert: dark fruit, cocoa and stone,” Hettema describes. She considers this one both structured and graceful, calling it a “powerful companion to sage-roasted meats and buttery sides.” The Yatir Forest, the origin place for this wine, was planted in the 1960s, transforming barren desert into Israel’s largest planted forest.
The winery that bears its name produces wines with a distinctive mineral backbone drawn from the limestone-rich Negev soil. This blend offers the bold fruit profile red wine lovers expect from Cabernet while revealing a more nuanced character that reflects its unique terroir: wines quite literally grown at civilization’s ancient crossroads.
Château Musar White Bekaa Valley, Lebanon (buy now)
Hettema’s white wine selection, crafted from indigenous varieties Obaideh and Merwah, comes from Lebanon’s storied Bekaa Valley. “Golden, honeyed, and mineral,” she describes. “It tastes like sunlight over limestone, pairing beautifully with butternut-squash soup or lemon-thyme turkey.”
Château Musar has produced wine continuously since 1930, even through Lebanon’s civil war. The white bottling showcases grapes that may be ancient relations of Chardonnay and Semillon, offering wine lovers a taste of viticultural history. Its oxidative style and remarkable aging potential make it a conversation starter for those accustomed to crisper, more reductive white wines.
Kavaklıdere “Pendore Syrah” İzmir, Turkey (buy now)
Hettema’s selection from her homeland represents modern Turkish winemaking at its finest. “A refined Turkish Syrah grown in the Pendore vineyards expressing black fruit, violet, eastern spice and supple tannins,” she explains. “It speaks of modern Anatolia; confident, balanced, quietly powerful. Exceptional with smoked eggplant or roasted duck.”
Kavaklıdere, established in 1929, pioneered quality wine production in the Turkish Republic. The Pendore vineyard in İzmir benefits from the Aegean climate and limestone soils that give this Syrah its distinctive profile, simultaneously familiar and revelatory for those who’ve yet to explore Turkey’s wine renaissance.
Domaine De La Romanée-Conti “La Tâche” Burgundy, France (buy now)
Hettema’s final selection reaches the apex of fine wine, which she calls “the pinnacle of grace.” She describes this iconic Burgundy profile as presenting flavors of cherry, forest floor and velvet texture. “A poetic finale for a feast.”
While pricey La Tâche requires no introduction to most collectors (it’s among the world’s most celebrated and expensive wines), its inclusion in Hettema’s winter selections speaks to her philosophy of hospitality. Special occasions deserve wines that transcend the everyday, bottles that transform a meal into memory.
The Chef Behind The Wine Selections
Hettema’s path to Hawaii began in Mersin, Turkey, where she learned to cook alongside her mother, Chef Nili, who brought more than 30 years of kitchen experience to their home.
After immigration complications kept her from returning from San Francisco, she turned to cooking as a way to stay connected to her roots, eventually joining her mother at Oahu farmers markets in 2015. Their market stall grew into Istanbul Hawaii, a restaurant they opened in 2020 and built together from scratch.
The women-owned and immigrant-owned business has since earned the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s Best Mediterranean Restaurant each year and the Small Business Administration’s 2022 Women-Owned Business of the Year for Hawaii.
As a James Beard Foundation Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Fellow, Hettema is helping bring wider attention to modern Turkish cooking in the United States while pushing for new innovation and wine pairing grounded in tradition.
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