Anu Apte

A native of Layton, Utah, just north of Salt Lake City, Apte-Elford didn’t always have her sights set on becoming one of the premier cocktail voices in the Pacific Northwest. Having completed her medical-focused undergraduate studies at the University of Utah, she first visited Washington in 2004 to research graduate programs—and it wasn’t long before she decided to settle there. In subsequent years, she’d meet and marry her business partner and husband, Chris Elford, with whom she runs Canoe. “He’s one of the most creative minds in the business, and we share a lot of strengths when it comes to running bars,” says Apte-Elford, who also moonlights as a traveling beverage program consultant and guest bartender. “We divide and conquer.”