Drink menus are quietly ‘changing’ in restaurants and bars across the UK

It all started with ‘zebra striping’, then came the ‘first and last rule’, or as some prefer to call it, ‘bookending’.

Over the last few years, people have been finding ways to introduce more and more alcohol-free options into their drinking repertoire on a night out.

It used to be a case of necking a glass of water between drinks, remember those days? Something we were adamant about doing at the start of the evening, but gradually forgot about the more drinks we’d had.

But now, we won’t have to worry about having a few too many, because restaurants and bars are doing the work for us.

Keep a lookout for changes being made to drinks lists across the UK, as some of our favourite eating and drinking spots start introducing ‘moderation menus’. 

What exactly is a moderation menu?

Restaurants are now starting to offer full-on pairing menus for people who want to curtail their alcohol intake, without cutting it out entirely.

The format for the menu works like this: one course is paired with a regular wine, then the next with a mocktail. The following course switches back to wine, and then comes a craft soda, etc.

It’s like the drinks version of intermittent fasting… ‘Intermittent drinking’, perhaps?

And it’s not just available during Dry January or Sober October, as people are generally drinking less all year round these days.

Because of this new demand, gone are the days of watery non-alcoholic replacements that no one wants to drink. Restaurants recognise that non-drinkers are a discerning bunch.

According to Marica Tonucci, the operational beverage manager at Big Mamma Group, those who don’t drink booze are looking for flavour and texture in their glass, almost more than regular drinkers.

This means the options need to taste darned good – none of these poor imitations of the alcoholic classics.

We’re talking delicious mocktails infused with vibrant flavours, gourmet sodas and specially-selected teas. Sommeliers have become serious about sourcing alcohol-free options that pair even better with the food dishes than the alcoholic equivalents.

Heck, some are even making their own concoctions, working together with chefs to gather up leftovers to use as drink ingredients. 

Who’s doing them?

Over in East London, one restaurant leading the way in moderation menus is Counter 71 in Shoreditch.

Harry Cooper is the Head Sommelier there, and was inspired to write the moderation menu because his wife is alcohol intolerant, and his close friend and colleague is more than four years sober.

‘I wanted to find drinks they could enjoy when dining out, especially at my restaurant,’ he tells Metro.

So, why moderation rather than a completely alcohol-free menu?

Well, they also have one of those, but Harry claims that for some, the jump from something to nothing can be ‘too far’ out of their comfort zone.

‘We see with a lot of guests that the promise of some wine and interesting 0% drinks works for them, especially at lunch time or midweek.’

Their pairing format offers five pours, which they ‘zebra stripe’ or alternate with glasses of wine and drinks less than 0.5%.

Harry adds: ‘I feel it’s important, especially with changing drink trends, to try and be inclusive, and my reputation as a sommelier has definitely benefited because of my interest and drive to find the products we can use for non-wine drinkers.’

Another Shoreditch hotspot offering a 50:50 alcohol/alcohol-free menu isPlates, a spot with one Michelin star, that’s run by siblings Kirk and Keely Haworth.

It took a Lyme disease diagnosis for Kirk to overhaul his lifestyle, pledging to explore plant-based food options and alcohol-free drinking options.

Their moderation menu includes flavoursome cocktails like ‘Not Noir’, with Hojicha green tea and Crossip rich berry and ‘Yuzuade’ with yuzu and agave soda. If I’m honest, the non-alcoholic options look as tempting as the full-throttle options.

At the other end of London, Raffles at The OWO (The Old War Office), is trying something different with its drinks offering too.

Their ex-head of wine, Vincenzo Arnese, says: ‘We want to offer that same level of excitement that we give to everybody else, so we approach the soft pairings as if they are a dish, working with our chefs instead of the bartender.’

The idea is to create a more diverse range of flavours to cover all the flavour options.

That’s why they launched The Temperance Pairing menu at their restaurant, Mauro Colagreco, with non-alcoholic options that involve ’10 times more work’ to put together than a regular tasting menu.

One of the main challenges they’ve faced is trying to avoid sugar as a replacement for alcohol, as this would defeat the object of trying to be healthier.

Aulis, Simon Rogan’s 12-seater, chef’s table format restaurant in Soho, also has a particularly interesting non-alcoholic pairing menu.

They use ingredients from Our Farm in the Lake District, alongside trusted growers. The trick is that Simon employs techniques he uses for his food dishes on the drinks.

One drink that took a month to create is simply called ‘Strawberry’, and involved a research trip to bars in Paris. For this, leftover Malwina strawberries from his farm are fermented into a Milky Oolong tea kombucha, containing all the milk, cream and butter notes of the tea. It’s then blended with smoky Rooibos tea from South Africa, and layered with grape juice and clarified using agar, a jelly made from red algae.

The drink is served in a mini martini glass and topped with a foam made from yoghurt, lemon verbena trimmings, strawberry mint and garnished with a dehydrated strawberry.

Now, that’s some moderation I can get behind…

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