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Sabrine Dhaliwal
Bartender / bar director
- Discipline
- Other
i. Biography
In 2015, Sabrine Dhaliwal was Assistant Bar Manager at West Restaurant in Vancouver, where the drink program’s direction settled into a language she already understood: structure first, then a controlled shift away from the expected. That balance shows up in the way her cocktails are described—unique, elegant-yet-funky twists on traditional drinks—and it is the useful part of the story for other bartenders: the work is recognizable in its form, but not trapped by it. Dhaliwal has said, “I was always in the service industry. I worked as a server and as a supervisor, took wine courses, and it just kind of felt like the natural progression in my career.” The line maps a familiar route through hospitality, from floor service to bar management, with the kind of steady accumulation that usually precedes a readable style.
The Climb
Training at Vancouver Community College gave Dhaliwal a technical base before she moved into service roles. At UVA Wine & Cocktail Bar in Vancouver, British Columbia, she worked as bar-back, a position that puts timing, repetition, and attention to the room ahead of authorship. She later became Assistant Bar Manager at West Restaurant in Vancouver, British Columbia (until 2015), moving closer to the center of the bar program and to the decisions that shape a drink list. Since 2015, Sabrine has been Bar Manager of West Restaurant, staying with the same house while taking on the responsibility to direct the bar from the ground up. What is notable in Dhaliwal’s rise is the sequence of the work itself: service, study, floor discipline, then the confidence to translate those habits into drinks that are both exact and animated. The progression is plain, and that is part of its value. It shows how a bar career can be built without shortcuts—through practice, repetition, and the slow tightening of judgment.
Today
Her drinks are known for unique, elegant-yet-funky twists on traditional formulas, which is a precise way of describing tension in the glass. The structure remains legible, but the details shift just enough to keep the drink from flattening into familiarity. That push and pull between classic and unexpected is the core of the style: composed, but not stiff; playful, but not loose. The result is a bar language that reads as deliberate rather than decorative.
In Their Words “I never expected that I would one day compete in the art of cocktail-making at the international level.” “I was always in the service industry. I worked as a server and as a supervisor, took wine courses, and it just kind of felt like the natural progression in my career.” Taken together, the quotations describe a career that moves by accumulation rather than reinvention. Service leads to supervision, wine study adds another layer, and competition becomes a later extension of the same discipline. There is no need for a dramatic turning point; the work itself supplies the continuity.
Recognition
Sabrine's honors include Top prize, Global Belvedere Challenge and First place, Belvedere vodka international martini competition. These results place her work in a setting where precision is visible and comparison is direct. For Dhaliwal, the recognition reads less like ornament and more like confirmation that her bar style holds up under pressure.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Sabrine
Where did Sabrine Dhaliwal train or study?
Sabrine Dhaliwal trained at Vancouver Community College.
What recognition has Sabrine Dhaliwal received?
Top prize, Global Belvedere Challenge (2015).
