The UK's first restaurant with a diverse drink menu for teetotalers

The Michelin Guide-recognized restaurant in Cheshire offers diners nearly 140 wines.

But now the restaurant is taking a bold step to cater to discerning diners who don't drink alcohol, and instead has a bottled water menu.

Here, diners can choose from three different bottles of plain water or four different sparkling mineral waters, along with complimentary tap water.

La Popote is tapping into a global trend toward non-alcoholic drinks. A Gallup poll last year found that about 58% of American adults drink alcohol, down from 67% in 2022.

More and more Americans are choosing to abstain from alcohol, whether permanently or temporarily, while restaurants are offering more mocktails.

Alcohol-free bars and alcohol-free liquor stores are becoming increasingly popular.

Chef Joseph Rawlins, who founded and runs La Popote with French partner Gaëlle Radigon, said they were initially introduced to the idea by Doran Binder, who supplied the restaurant's drinking water under the Crag Spring Water brand.

A water expert certified by the Fine Water Academy, Mr. Binder first proposed the idea of a water menu three years ago.

“I just laughed it off. At first I thought it was a silly idea,” Rawlins told CNN.

But when Mr Binder invited Rawlins to sample it at a “water bar” he owns in the Peak District, a national park in north-central England, they were convinced.

“It was amazing,” Chef Rawlins said of the experience, adding that he now believes “water is more than just water.”

On their first tasting, they tried five or six different varieties.

“We then tested it a second time with the same water but paired it with certain foods – like Manchego cheese, Comté cheese, chocolate, Parma ham, olives. Like wine, the flavour changed,” added Rawlins.

According to Mr Binder, La Popote is the first restaurant in the UK to have a diverse water menu, and one of only a few in the world .

Mr. Binder himself is also the one who selects the drink menu for the restaurant La Popote.

Prices range from £5 ($6.80) for a large bottle of Crag brand and around £19 ($26) for The Palace of Vidago, a sparkling Portuguese mineral water.

“Measuring the minerals in water is what determines taste and smell,” Binder told CNN.

That measurement is called Total Dissolved Solids, or TDS, he says. And, of course, how you serve your water matters, too.

“We recommend drinking water at room temperature with ice and a slice of lemon. Water is like wine – if it's too cold, it will lose all of its flavor,” says Rawlins.

“More and more people don’t drink, like me. I’m a foodie. When I go to a restaurant, the drink menu is always wine, which I would never care for,” agrees Binder, who has never drunk wine.

But if it were a drink menu, it would be a whole new source of revenue, says Binder . Drinks have always been attractive to restaurants and are increasingly attracting health-conscious people. It’s really all about the culinary experience.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/du-lich/nha-hang-co-thuc-don-nuoc-da-dang-dau-tien-danh-cho-nguoi-kieng-ruou-o-anh-162295.html