Non-alcoholic drink menus

There is an interesting article by Frank Bruni in today's New York Times about the trend in restaurants to developing non-alcoholic mixed drink menus. Bruni quotes Sean Patrick McClure early in his piece (Tom Colicchio hired McClure to upgrade Craft's "cocktail program"): "'All the time, people come in who are pregnant or who don’t drink, and if their dining partner is doing something like a full tasting menu with wine pairings, I don’t want them to have to suck down Coke all night,' Mr. McClure told me."

I have raised this issue in a couple of my own posts because the Lovely Dining Companion cannot drink alcohol. A couple years ago, we had dinner at Nacional 27 and one of the unexpected highlights was being presented at the outset with a complete menu of non-alcoholic mixed drinks. The drinks were thoughful, creative, and enticing. What I didn't get then--and still don't--is why more places don't do this. Nearly every time we go out, I can count on a by-the-glass wine listing but LDC is stuck choosing between fruit juice, water, and soft drinks. It doesn't have to be that way.

Frankly, there are many times when I would love to start the evening with a non-alcoholic drink before moving on to wine or something else. It ain't happenin' and I just don't understand why. Bruni says that "Many restaurants, especially ambitious ones, have been creating and serving distinctive nonalcoholic mixed drinks for years, but there seems to be a bit of an upsurge of late. Bartenders and restaurant beverage service directors say that reflects the increasing adventurousness and high standards that gastronomes bring to all aspects of a dining experience, from the bread service to the coffee. Drinks are part of that, and many people uninterested in wine, beer or hard liquor don’t want to make do with something they could get at a bodega."

Exactly right. So, to my query: other than Nacional 27, we haven't found a single (dare I say "high end"?) place in town that offers a non-alcoholic drink menu. Yes, a few places will offer something if we make a point of asking (I recall Charlie Trotter's inventing something for her), but except for Nacional 27 we have never, ever been given a non-alcoholic drink menu. Can anyone point us to others?

I can't say for sure that they have an actual printed non-alcoholic drink menu, but I've had wonderful non-alcoholic drinks at The Boka Group Restaurants (Perennial, Boka and Landmark (haven tried at Girl & the Goat yet)) as well as Blackbird. I asked and they delivered without as much as batting an eye.

The "mocktails" at the Violet Hour are really noteworthy. Just let the bartender know the flavor profile you're looking for and they deliver some very interesting drinks. My wife (the non-drinker in the family) really appreciates being able to enjoy unique drinks like the rest of us.

Also she ordered the non-alcoholic drink pairings at Pujol in Mexico City, which were excellent. This is a trend my family can really get behind.

Green Zebra has one, which includes a housemade pink peppercorn soda that's terrific and food-friendly.

Oops. Kenny, you are completely correct; we've been to Green Zebra a couple of times and it completely slipped my mind. LDC, in fact, had that very soda. Thanks, too, to Steve and turkob for your suggestions. I had thought my chances of getting her into the Violet Hour were slim; guess I should have done a little more homework. And a couple places you mentioned, Steve, are higher on the "to visit" list than they were an hour ago (although we were at Blackbird not all that long ago and I don't recall anything non-alcoholic being offered or mentioned).

Gypsy Boy wrote:(although we were at Blackbird not all that long ago and I don't recall anything non-alcoholic being offered or mentioned).

It's been well over a year since I've been there, so things might have changed, but it's worth asking next time you go. They made at least three diferent non alcohol drinks for me on the fly.

A friend of mine told me that Moto has non-alcoholic drink pairings as well, though I've never investigated for myself.

I hope the trend catches on. There are a lot of us that have limited alcohol tolerance!

Kennyz wrote:Green Zebra has one, which includes a housemade pink peppercorn soda that's terrific and food-friendly.

I could drink that stuff by the gallon. The last time we were at Trotter, the minute they offered us the pairings & we said we don't drink, they came out with a non-alcoholic pairing for each course. It was thoughtful and we were delighted, oh yeah we bought it as well and it was, I think, apx. $50/person.

You might investigate at Terzo Piano. I noticed tonight at dinner that they offer a variety of housemade juices and sodas. Also, their winter cocktail list struck me as overwhelmingly fruity. The drinks seemed like they wouldn't be too difficult to adapt sans alcohol.

Terzo Piano @ The Art Institute
159 E. Monroe St.
Chicago, IL 60603
312-443-8650
Lunch: Monday-Sunday; Dinner: Thursday only

Great idea. I think some of us are hesitant to frequent certain restaurants because it will be expected that we will order drinks or wine. Its not because we are cheap or tee totalers. Some people for health reasons, can't drink and others are recovering/ed alcoholics. I hope the trend continues.

Some new "mocktails" on Balsan's brunch menu:

RIA Digest on 3/3/11 wrote:]New non-alcoholic cocktails include the Meyer Lemon, made with juice, zest
and simple syrup of the sweet citron. The Lime-n-Thyme blends lime juice
and lime zest with fresh thyme and grapefruit juice, and the Elderflower
mocktail combines grapefruit and pear juices with mint.