A growing number of restaurants now enable people recovering from alcoholism to take part in their drink and dinner pairings by matching elegant dishes with non-alcoholic beverages such as milk, exotic teas, and unique sodas, the New York Times reported Dec. 22.One such concept began at Per Se in the Time Warner Center in New York and has since been introduced at its sister restaurant, the French Laundry in Yountville, Calif. The tasting dinners meet the needs of recovering alcoholics as well as pregnant women and others who want to limit or avoid alcohol while still enjoying the tasting menu.
During a recent pairings dinner, French Laundry Chef Thomas Keller and Wine and Beverage Director Paul Roberts selected whole milk to pair with tagliatelle with black truffles and butter.
For lobster fricassee, Roberts poured a tart Meyer lemon Gus soda pop. For Coho salmon roe over a buttery porridge, a chilled chamomile tea was served. For foie gras, the beverage of choice was Boylan root beer.
"In the past we'd say, 'Oh, they're not drinking,' and we'd give up on them," Roberts said. "But we need to be as thoughtful with that guest as we are for a guest who is having 15 different wines."
According to Roberts, word of mouth about the nonalcoholic pairings has spread, and they now are ordered by four or five diners a week at both restaurants.
"It's a much bigger group than you think," said Clark Wolf, a restaurant consultant in New York and California. "There are more people who absolutely will not drink at all, and people who will not drink during the daytime or, as we say, on a school night."
The trend is beginning to spread across the country. In Houston, Texas, for example, Phillip Mitchell, chef/owner of Bistro Calais, offers a four-course meal paired with nonalcoholic drinks that he said is popular at lunch and weekday evenings.
"I guarantee you that in a couple of years this will be a common thing in restaurants nationwide, like vegetarian tasting menus are," Mitchell said.
Chef Charlie Trotter in Chicago, Ill., has been serving custom-made alcohol-free infused beverages to match his seven-course tasting menu since the 1980s. He estimated that on any given night, about 20 percent of his customers won't drink alcohol.
"At a certain level of cooking, you do want to control the flavors at every point," he said.
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