Wine Director, One Fifth

Katharine Hooper arrived in NYC in 2012, starting work at Eataly as a barista and pouring wine at a pop-up counter on the weekends. While there, her interest in wine led to a Sommelier position covering 4 of the restaurants on Eataly's main floor. A year later, Katharine made the move to Otto as a sommelier (where One Fifth is now located) to continue to develop her expertise around Italian wines in a casual atmosphere. She went on to hone her service skills in an elevated dining setting and broaden her knowledge with USHG; first at Gramercy Tavern before eventually joining the wine team at Maialino. The interruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic didn't hold Katharine back from pushing forward and continuing to learn. For the entirety of the closures, she started a small business offering remote online wine classes that was met with great success. Once the city reopened, she joined the team at Cookshop as the wine buyer before joining the opening wine team at One Fifth, being promoted to Wine Director shortly after the opening. She is passionate about the relationship between Italian and domestic wine, and curates the One Fifth list to highlight both historical and boundary-pushing wineries.