Golden Ratio Is a Bar That Goes Both Ways

"Are Americans drinking less? Alcohol sales and Gallup surveys suggest shifting attitudes among Gen-Z drinkers; restaurant and bar owners are, if not panicked, at least left to wonder how to cater to these changing tastes in an industry built around booze sales. The owners of the new bar Golden Ratio have come up with a novel answer: Split their 32-drink menu right down the middle between traditional cocktails and spirit-free counterparts."

""People want something interesting to drink - they don't need to necessarily have alcohol anymore," says Piper Kristensen, a partner and the beverage director for Redwood Hospitality, the restaurant group opening the bar (who also run Laurel Bakery, Place des Fêtes, and Cafe Mado). "But I don't think that the demand is there to sustain a totally nonalcoholic bar.""

"The bar itself, which they're aiming to open during the first week of November, is a corner space in a former bodega a couple storefronts down from Place de Fêtes. They'll be able to seat 50 to 60 people, and they have an all-electric kitchen with a food menu heavy on vegetables. For the drinks, every alcoholic option will have a nonalcoholic counterpart (and vice versa), but they won't be one-to-one matches."

Americans are drinking less and Gen-Z exhibits shifting attitudes toward alcohol consumption. Restaurant and bar owners are rethinking offerings in an industry built on alcohol sales. Golden Ratio plans a 32-drink menu evenly split between alcoholic cocktails and spirit-free counterparts, with each version built around the same core ingredient rather than exact replicas. Nonalcoholic drinks use techniques such as lemon-verbena distillate and shiso-stem tea to create complex flavors, while alcoholic counterparts incorporate house-made spirits using ingredients like green fennel seeds and kitchen scraps. The bar seats 50–60, features an all-electric kitchen, and emphasizes vegetable-forward food.

Read at Grub Street