Apoorva Kohli

The Climb

An internship at Sidecar in New Delhi, India gave Apoorva Kohli the first working lessons of the bar: timing, balance, attention, and composure under pressure. The role was not built on polish at the outset, but on repetition inside the room, learning how a service bar moves, how orders stack, and how the cadence of mixology is absorbed from behind the station. That apprenticeship stayed inside the same venue. At Sidecar, Apoorva Kohli moved from intern to bartender, a progression grounded in consistency rather than reinvention. The bar that trained the intern later became the place where the bartender’s presence was part of the daily standard.

Today

Bartending at Sidecar in New Delhi places Apoorva Kohli in the daily work of mixology, where precision and poise are part of the job. In service, each pour, shake, and presentation sits within a larger rhythm of the room. Recognition can still land slowly; after the ceremony, Kohli said, “I didn’t even process what happened for the two days following the ceremony.”

In Their Words “Being Indian, one is deeply accustomed to hospitality because it's a common practice to welcome others into the home. So for me, it was all very natural.” “When I entered the profession, in fact, I never thought of climbing the ranks and reaching such heights.” Read together, the quotes point to a trade built on inherited behavior as much as formal training. For Apoorva Kohli, hospitality begins as a familiar social practice and carries into bar service without needing translation. The second line keeps the emphasis on process: entering the profession without fixed expectations, then allowing the work itself to define the pace of advancement.

Recognition

Apoorva's honors include The World’s 50 Best Bars — The Blend Scholarship (2023).