Launceston Place and Seedlip create ‘Dry January’ menu

Seedlip, the world’s first distilled non-alcoholic spirits brand, has partnered with D&D’s Launceston Place to create a non-alcoholic tasting menu for January.

The first-of-its-kind partnership will see the South Kensington restaurant offer a five-course tasting menu served alongside a series of Seedlip non-alcoholic cocktails.

In a bid to show that indulgent experiences can still be had by those people opting to have a ‘dry’ January, Launceston Place’s tasting menu will feature dishes such as blue crab, creamy potato, tarragon and carapace jus (served alongside a Seedlip ‘Spice Toddy’ cocktail, made with Seedlip Spice, apple, ginger drops and clove); guinea fowl, green and brown cauliflower and pomegranate (paired with ‘Spice Soda’, made with Seedlip Spice, vanilla and black cardamom soda); and chocolate cremeux, caramelised popcorn and yoghurt (served alongside a warming ‘Winter Martini’, made with Seedlip Spice, sweet cranberry and fir shrub.

The five-course tasting menu will be available from Tuesday to Saturday, 2-31 January 2017, as either lunch or dinner. The experience will cost £70 per person for the tasting menu, plus an additional £30 per person for the Seedlip non-alcoholic cocktails.

More news…

Duck and Waffle launches ‘veggie’ cocktail list
Seedlip non-alcoholic spirit launches in US

The move to create a non-alcoholic tasting menu is in-keeping with the growing trend towards low and no-alcohol options in both the on- and off-trades. A growing number of high-profile restaurants in the UK on-trade are offering non-alcoholic drinks pairing options with food – the Michelin-starred Clove Club and HKK, sister restaurant of Hakkasan, have both reported on the popularity of their dedicated non-alcoholic tasting menus.

Three Michelin-starred Noma, in Copenhagen, is often credited as a pioneer of this gastronomic trend.

Founded by Ben Branson in 2015, Seedlip has set out to solve the popular dilemma of ‘what to drink when you’re not drinking’ – a phrase Seedlip has gone to the trouble of trademarking. As reported in the drinks business, in July this year the company secured major investment from Diageo-funded spirits innovation group Distell Ventures.

In early December 2016 the company announced that it was about to launch in the US market.

Seedlip is available in top London restaurants including The Ledbury and The Savoy, while Duck and Waffle recently launched a ‘veggie’ cocktail list which incorporates Seedlip.

Read Launceston Place’s entry on db‘s wine list ratings website, Wine List Confidential, here.