The first time Tom Mathe, head bartender at L’Avenue in Manhattan, saw a child order a mocktail, he didn’t know what to think.
“There was this initial impulse of, ‘Wait, is this OK?’” he said. “I wouldn’t explicitly target children as a demographic when I make any kind of drink.”
Yet more and more he has noticed children asking for nonalcholic drinks. “It’s not exactly daily, but more than weekly,” he said.
The restaurant, which sits inside Saks Fifth Avenue, has two spirit-free concoctions on the menu. Most children get the “Mr. Tastee,” Mr. Mathe said, which comes with coconut, vanilla, bergamot orange and soda. It makes sense, he added, considering that he created it with his own childhood in mind: “It reminds me of waiting for an ice cream truck.”
He ultimately decided that while it still feels a little strange to serve the sophisticated beverages to children, it felt satisfying to contribute to family dining experiences “in an interesting way.”
As nonalcoholic cocktails, wines and beers have become staples on bar menus across America, some children — people way under the legal drinking age — have begun to partake.
