All products featured on Vogue are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.
Today, learning that a restaurant calls itself farm-to-table holds about as much shock value as hearing my server explain that everything at said restaurant is meant to be enjoyed family style. One part of the menu that remains a place of unexpected whimsy, however? The drinks list—and more specifically, the soda section. I find this to be especially true as the weather heats up and my neighborhood farmer’s market in Manhattan turns into the place to be on a Saturday morning.
“Serving sodas affords us the ability to create a snapshot of the season. Whether it’s a perfumy sweet strawberry or tingly fresh spearmint, using produce during its peak is the ultimate treat,” says Danielle Peters-Clossey, bar director at San Francisco-based Back Home Hospitality, which includes Che Fico restaurants and soon-to-open Bubbeleh. “Without the use of artificial flavors, sweeteners, or preservatives, we can offer our guests a natural alternative.”
Those local, seasonal snapshots are especially delightful in the summertime. At the newly opened Feathers restaurant inside Audrey Gelman’s much-anticipated Six Bells Inn in the Hudson Valley, I ordered a simple, pastel pink soda that made use of local strawberries and rhubarb; at Bastia, beverage director Benjamin Kirke highlights eastern Pennsyvlannia produce with lacto-fermented sodas that, in June and July, include apricot and maquis; strawberry and mint; rhubarb and basil; lemon, lime, and thyme.
Having spent my summers in Istanbul drinking Uludag Gazoz, a popular Turkish fizzy drink that’s also enjoyed in Israel and other parts of the Middle East, I’m especially excited when I see restaurants embrace the term and use it as a conversation starter with guests. At Alon Shaya’s Denver and New Orleans restaurants, you’ll find seasonal gazoz with pomegranate juice, sage, orange blossoms, and rosewater as well as cucumber agave with lime and mint. Chef Ayesha Nurdjaja’s Middle Eastern hotspot Shukette even includes alcohol suggestions to mix into their seasonal gazoz selection, begging the question, why aren’t we all adding Cocchi Americano to hibiscus, rose, and lemon soda?
Seasonality isn’t the only thing the fancy soda has going for it, however. There’s also a strong nostalgia element at play, a trend that’s already proved overwhelmingly powerful when it comes to restaurants and hospitality at large.
“When I originally started making our soda syrups, I assumed they’d mostly be ordered by kids, so they were on the sweeter side,” says Christian Summer, bartender at Pasta Night in Brooklyn. “I quickly learned that adults also love them, so I began experimenting with more ‘grown-up flavors.”
While I can’t envision my eight-year-old self gravitating towards the Sedano, an herbaceous, almost savory combination of celery, black pepper, lemon juice, and vinegar, it certainly caters to my love of Cynar (an artichoke-flavored amaro) now. Similarly, the Ciligeia functions as a fancy cherry coke, with a punch of cinnamon and lime juice alongside Summer’s homemade cherry soda syrup.
“We choose to offer sodas because [they are] the perfect balance between a ‘regular’ non-alcoholic soda you find in a restaurant and a cocktail you can drink in a bar,” explains Charly Aguinsky, beverage director at New York City’s buzzy new Peruvian spot Papa San, which offers two unique house sodas that couldn’t be more refreshing. My personal favorite, the so-called Trash Soda, mimics a classic Sprite or 7-Up by making use of leftover lemons, limes, and oranges from the bar and combining them with seasonal berries and soda water.
As if the humble house soda doesn’t pull its weight on the menu enough (looking at you, little gem salad), there’s also the math of it all. Especially in major dining cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, a nonalcoholic cocktail will run you about the same as its boozy counterpart. That means if you view abstaining from alcohol as more of a financial choice, the fancy soda is the answer.
“A mocktail is nothing less than a cocktail, execution and price-wise,” agrees Carlo Splendorni, bar director for Bar Sprezzatura in San Francisco, which offers a house vanilla and lavender soda in the summers, as well as a so-called grapefruitcello soda in the winter. “[Our host soda] has a better margin for the establishment and is also great for the guest, both in experience and value.”
While my appreciation of fancy soda culture hasn’t made me any more likely to order a fountain drink at a concert or join the Cult of Diet Coke, there’s a noticeable change afoot. When I scan the nonalcoholic drinks section of the menu—I’ll always look, even if I’m planning to drink alcohol—and notice a house soda, I’m often unable to resist ordering it. Maybe I’m drawn to the simplicity after writing about endless over-the-top martinis and maddeningly complicated highballs; maybe it’s just the economy. Either way, I hope more bartenders indulge the itch—because I know I’m not alone.