Sommeliers’ sober switch as top restaurants go soft for dry diners

SOMMELIERS at Michelin-starred restaurants have turned their hand to soft drink pairings to attract dry diners.

As increasing numbers of Britons become “sober curious”, or turn their backs on alcohol altogether, the fine-dining industry is having to adapt its offerings.

Experts are pairing tea over red wine with beef, for example, while kefir and coconut water has usurped white wine to accompany fish dishes.

At the Michelin-starred Restaurant Twenty-two in Cambridge, diners have the option of a non-alcoholic drinks flight for £42.50 to complement its full tasting menu, or £32.50 to accompany its short tasting menu.

Georgia Goddard, the sommelier who curates the restaurant’s soft drinks flight, says demand for alcohol-free options has soared recently – and not just among Dry January diners. “Since we’ve started offering it, which is a couple of years ago now, we’ve seen it just grow in popularity,” Ms Goddard said.

“We get a lot of couples in and they’ll have one of each; they’ll have one wine flight and one soft flight.” Ms Goddard pairs a cold-brew lapsang tea infused with rosemary and pine with Yorkshire Wagyu short-rib beef, while a savoury concoction of roasted Jerusalem artichoke with pear and dill oil complements the artichoke in a cod dish.

Pine in Northumberland is another Michelin-starred restaurant with a dry drinks flight. Up to half of its customers now choose non-alcoholic options, according to Vanessa Stoltz, its head sommelier. Diners at Pine are offered an iced oolong tea smoked with applewood to accompany the monkfish, while the soft drinks line-up also includes home-made kefirs, elderberry kombucha and a sea buckthorn drink.