Sabrine Dhaliwal, bar manager at Vancouver’s UVA Wine + Cocktail Bar bar chats cocktails, cool ingredients and the career she almost had. —Kelsey Klassen
Image: Allison Kuhl
How long have you been bartending? Tell us a bit about your bartending career.
About four years ago, I began apprenticing under Lauren Mote [Bittered Sling, UVA] and David Wolowidnyk [CinCin, West], who taught me the history of cocktails and proper techniques, along with a more efficient yet graceful style of execution.
I joined UVA in December of 2015, and it has been an amazing journey so far. Before UVA, I was at West Restaurant.
What drew you to join the team at UVA?
I’ve admired UVA for a long time. From the layout of the room and the beautiful curved bar, to the tall ceilings—all of these features add to the ambience. Both the previous wine director and bar manager (Robert Stelmachuk and Lauren Mote, respectively) were keen on education, and teaching others was a skill I wanted to strengthen. I also wanted to be challenged in new and diverse ways—working in a wine and cocktail bar is very different than bartending for a dining room. I had developed an interest in wine early on in my hospitality career, and Italian wines had fallen on the back burner, so moving to a bar with a heavily Italian-influenced wine list seemed like the right fit.
Image: UVA Wine + Cocktail Bar
Any milestones or top highlights in your bartending career?
2015 was a big year for me: I had just started entering cocktail competitions, without really knowing what to expect. I participated in Vancouver’s first annual Molinari Sambuca Cocktail Competition with no expectations, considering it a learning experience where I’d present in front of a panel of judges in a room filled with all eyes focused on me. I was shocked when I was announced the winner! This competition gave me the confidence to enter much larger competitions, and I am very proud to say that I brought home the title of Global Belvedere Challenge Winner 2015 held in London, England.
What has inspired your career, be it a person, place or thing?
It’s a combination of things; I was a university student trying to get into dentistry at the time that I decided to take a summer job at a resort in Jasper, Alberta. I had never been to the mountains, and was over the moon when I had the opportunity to work and live there for a few months. Little did I know this summer job would steer me down a different path. I ended up staying at the resort for the entire season, putting my formal education on hold, and then hopped a plane to travel Europe for three months.
I was unsure if I wanted to continue pursuing my dentistry dream, and perhaps instead change directions and go into hospitality. Upon my return, I went back to the resort to test the waters further, before moving to Vancouver where the rest became history. As I was settling into Vancouver I was encouraged by a few friends to pursue more education, and enrolled into a Hospitality Management Program where I started taking wine courses—and my career has continued to evolve ever since.
Image: Alison Kuhn
Best piece of bartending advice you’ve ever received?
Be patient. Being a great bartender is much more than what is present in the glass, it’s about the entire experience for the guest. There is an art to being a great host; many of those skills are gained with time.
Strangest request you’ve had from a customer?
A cocktail made with hot dog water… I couldn’t fulfill this request, we had just run out of hot dog water.
If you were a cocktail ingredient, you’d be—?
An Amaro, one that isn’t too far extreme on the bitter scale but one with bright acidity and savoury, floral and fruit characters. Something much like myself— every day is a little bit different, but you know it will be entertaining.
Image: Mosmancellars.com.au
At the end of the night, what drink do you make or pour yourself?
Lately it has been a glass of wine; usually white, bright, crisp with a touch of oak (Chablis is a weakness).
Person you’d most like to see taking a seat at your bar?
I’d love to have the opportunity to make Leonardo DiCaprio a cocktail; we would discuss the environment and politics.
Your bartending/shift pump up song?
More of a theme—‘80s Hair Bands!
Coolest ingredient you’re playing with currently?
Haskap liqueur and bitters! They are definitely an up-and-coming trend—I was lucky enough to get my hands on both a locally made bitter (Bittered Sling) and liqueur (Okanagan Spirits), and they add the loveliest bright berry flavour, somewhere between a blueberry and raspberry yet different.
Image: Bittered Sling
What’s your secret bartending weapon?
My notebooks—I have all my notebooks from when I started studying wine and spirits. They are filled with product information, vintage notes, production methods, funny anecdotes from producers, recipes and everything in between. I use them as reference tools. To everyone else they are extremely disorganized and finding information would be very difficult—but hey, they’re my notebooks. Maybe one day I will find some time to type them all out and organize them.
What is a signature of yours? What makes something a Sabrine Dhaliwal cocktail?
I enjoy free-styling cocktails for guests. I ask a series of questions to see what kind of flavour profile or style they might enjoy. People seem to enjoy that I have made a personalized cocktail just for them, but there’s a catch—unless I write it down immediately, I likely won’t be able to re-create it at a later date.
What’s something that surprises people about you?
People are usually surprised to hear that I grew up on a farm; people assume I’m from the city. I would often help out with chores and spent countless days learning the ropes of farm life. I am very thankful for the life lessons my parents have taught me, and have so much respect for them.
Image: UVA + Wine and Cocktail Bar
Tell us a pro tip about enjoying a night at UVA?
Let us help you—we have a vast selection of beers, wines, cocktails and spirits, and we have tasted most of them. Tell us what flavour profile you are looking for, and we will do our very best to find the perfect match.
What is the coolest thing about being a bartender?
The countless people we meet! Everyone has a story they’d like to share, and I find so much inspiration from one person to the next.
If you weren’t a bartender, what is your parallel life career?
As I mentioned earlier, I would have gone into dentistry. In another parallel life, I would also be a writer—however, this is something that I’ve been thinking of picking up as a hobby. Creative writing classes are next on my to-do list!
Image: UVA + Wine and Cocktail Bar
What’s the story behind the Madame Colet?
The Madame Colet is one of my favourite cocktails. It’s a spirit-forward rum drink, which is not something that is super common. I was invited to guest bartend at the Vancouver Club for their Celebrity Bartender event a few years ago, and the theme for the finale was decades. I was assigned the 1930s, and drew inspiration from the 1932 movie Trouble in Paradise and the 1933 classic cocktail Remember the Maine. The movie has a dramatic and troubling love story, and this cocktail represents one of the characters—the Madame Colet is deep, rich, pensive and complex.
To learn how to make Sabrine’s Madame Colet recipe, click here.
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