The Lama Who Raises The Bar For His Trade

When Sidecar became the only Indian bar to make it to Asia’s 50 Best, it was a double cause for celebration for its founder and bartender-in-chief, Yangdup Lama, because he’s “still a small-town boy” and a self-made entrepreneur in a city where he had moved from Darjeeling 25 years ago.

- Sourish Bhattacharyya

Lama, who, along with his business partner Minakshi Singh, got into the trade with Cocktails & Dreams Speakeasy at Gurugram in 2012, calls himself a “bartender by accident”. The first job he got after completing hotel school in Kolkata and moving to Delhi in 1992, ended in six days – he was sacked because he beat up a bully in his department.