Meet Naveen: Behind the Bar at Gina

From food runner at the American Bar at The Savoy to Bar Manager at Gina, here’s what I learned from sitting down with Naveen this week.

Before I get into the questions, I should say this, from the FOH team at Gina: ‘Naveen is the best.’ He was one of the main people who trained me when I started at Gina because he genuinely knows the restaurant inside out.

Alongside running the bar, he helps oversee front of house, runs food from the kitchen when needed and spends Mondays tackling the admin jobs that keep everything ticking over behind the scenes. In short, he’s exactly the kind of person you want in the team.

So, here are 10 questions for our Nav and 10 very good answers.

Naveen: Back in India, I worked as an automobile sales representative for a company selling motorbikes. It gave me a lot of experience talking to customers, so I already knew I enjoyed that side of things.

When I moved to the UK for school, I needed to find some part-time work. I’d heard hospitality was a good place to start, so I applied to be a food runner and got the job.

Naveen: This is actually a pretty cool story. I started as a food runner at the American Bar and immediately connected with the customers.

They moved me over to work as a waiter with the events team, and the next thing I knew I was serving Lady Gaga at the Critics Choice Awards. It was incredible.

Naveen: Nothing quite like that, but the level of service there was something else.

I have high standards for myself and for my team now, and that definitely comes from working at the American Bar.

Between serving drinks, we would do a floor run on a set timer. We had to top up drinks, check in with guests and take any orders, all while getting back behind the bar in under two and a half minutes.

It was pretty intense

.

Naveen: I think my story says something nice about hospitality.

I had my trial shift at Gina on 30 August 2025, so I’m coming up to a year now. My bar manager at The Savoy told me about a new restaurant in Chingford that was hiring food runners.

I didn’t really want to go back into that role, but he encouraged me to apply and at least have a conversation with the team. They called me in, heard about my experience and offered me a job behind the bar instead.

Naveen: It’s the conversations with customers.

You’re serving drinks while hearing random stories about food, travel, different cultures and people’s lives. I find it really interesting.

Getting paid to learn about people while making them happy, what’s not to enjoy?

Naveen: It’s a tough question, but I’ve really enjoyed making our milk punches - first the Pear Punch and now the Elderflower Punch.

People don’t always realise they’re made using milk, or what that actually does. When you clarify the drink, the milk solids are strained out and it softens some of the bitterness and harshness from the alcohol. It sounds strange, but it creates a really smooth, soft drink. If you’ve tried one of our punches, you already know how good they are.

Naveen: I think most of our customers already know the steaks are delicious. There’s a reason we have an entire night dedicated to them every week.

For the 800g wing rib, I’d definitely recommend the Rioja. It works really well with aged beef.

The fish on the menu changes, but our cod dish has been really popular. For that, I’d go with the Gavi.

Our current vegetarian dish is the Tomato Vol-au-Vent, which is really creamy. I’d pair that with one of our rosés, preferably the Provence.

Naveen: Every bar works differently, and bartending involves a lot of multitasking.

At Gina, it’s usually just me or Anisha behind the bar, so we’re always trying to get drinks out as quickly as possible without compromising on quality.

And one golden rule: never put a glass directly into the ice well or ice machine. Always use the scoop. Trust me, you are not ready for the mess a broken glass can cause in the middle of a busy service. Thank me later.

Naveen: Easy. Stick to the classics.

We serve our beer in frosted glasses, so that’s a very good place to start. If you want a cocktail, I’d go for a Moscow Mule or our summer special, the Watermelon Paloma.

Naveen: It’s really important to have good drinks for people who don’t drink alcohol, and I’m proud of what we offer.

Alongside things like fresh lemonade and limeade, coffee, Lucky Saint, apple juice and orange juice, we have a couple of proper non-alcoholic cocktails too. We’re also always happy to make something bespoke using whatever ingredients we have behind the bar.

There’s the Watermelon Fizz, which I know had a whole newsletter dedicated to it.

Then there’s the Hibiscus and Grapefruit Soda, which has become a bit of a Gina classic designed by Missy & Cameron of Malik Acid. We make a syrup using dried hibiscus and rose water, top it with grapefruit soda and finish it with a wedge of lime.

And there you have it.

Next time you’re at Gina, show our bartenders some love and say hello to Naveen. Order a cocktail, a glass of wine or even an ice-cold Coca-Cola and know that there’s a lot more happening behind that bar than you might think.

Cheers to Nav and to everyone keeping the drinks flowing.

Anna