Good news for those who abstain from alcohol and ladies who are pregnant or nursing – non-alcoholic cocktails are gaining popularity. Maybe now the bartender won’t look at you like you have two heads when you request something sans liquor.

The NYT‘s Frank Bruni decided to explore the world of non-alcoholic drinks one night and what he found looks tasty as well as hopeful for those of us (I myself am a nursing mama) who want to go out for drinks but can’t actually have any alcohol. Apparently, both high-end as well as neighborhood dining establishments are expanding their non-alcoholic drink sections to include something other than soft drinks and tea.

His first stop was Tom Colicchio’s (of Top Chef fame) restaurant Craft where he sampled such non-alcoholic concoctions as delights as yuzu with rose syrup and a kumquat-and-fennel smash both created by mixologist Sean Patrick McClure.

Bruni writes, “Many restaurants, especially ambitious ones, have been creating and serving distinctive non-alcoholic mixed drinks for years, but there seems to be a bit of an upsurge of late. Bartenders and restaurant beverage service directors say that reflects the increasing adventurousness and high standards that gastronomes bring to all aspects of a dining experience, from the bread service to the coffee. Drinks are part of that, and many people uninterested in wine, beer or hard liquor don’t want to make do with something they could get at a bodega.”

For the full article, go here.

Photo credit: Kirsten Luce for The New York Times

• Tag: Cocktails, non-alcoholic, trends