2.0 sommelier Benoît d’Onofrio, known under the newly-coined title of ‘sobrelier’, is blazing the trail for top-flight, alcohol-free drinks in France. His beverages, which you could refer to as liquid haute cuisine, can compete with dishes by the top Michelin-starred chefs. He welcomes us at the Ventrus restaurant in Paris’ 19th arrondissement to tell us more about his background and his approach.
How did you become a ‘sobrelier’?
I trained as a sommelier and realised that for so many years I had been doing my job in a way that was too exclusive, meaning that I was focusing entirely on wine. But there’s a whole world outside wine! I wanted to explore that world and demonstrate to my patrons that there is a place for everyone in the recreational beverage space. After realising that there was no real, satisfactory range in terms of sophistication, complexity and pleasure among existing alcohol-free drinks, I decided to design what I felt was a worthwhile drink that had the ability to offer different levels of aromas, flavours and textures.
That’s when I decided to change my name to a ‘sobrelier’. In other words, a sommelier who provides access to every style of drink with the level of moderation you want to put into it.
Where do you find the inspiration for creating your drinks?
Obviously initially the cuisine suggestions come into play. As soon as the intention for a recipe is put forward to me, I consider an array of products and from there, I contemplate colours. After identifying the colour and sum of components that I want to use to create my drink, I then launch into seeking out textures, acidities and bitters. This is when I establish my beverage styles – invigorating, comforting, earthly, bitters… It’s an exercise that is packed with personal intentions. When you produce your own drinks, the food and pairing suggestion becomes your signature, which allows you to strengthen the identity of the restaurant even more because, in addition to the identity of what’s on the plate, there’s the identity of what’s in the glass and that has the ability to promote unique conversations.
How do you manage to create this dialogue between the glass and the plate?
Very often I go down the ‘connecting the imaginary dots’ route. I remember a menu sequence that was an iteration of an Auvergne stew. My memories took me back to cold weather in the countryside, in a house around the fireplace. I wanted my drink to reflect this very rural tradition. So I only used ingredients that were widely available, most of them sourced from the land. It was a drink revolving around potatoes, farmhouse bread and pear. I also focused on flames. Some of the ingredients were prepared using a blow-torch to lend them a smokiness which would recall the time spent by the fireside.
What are your hopes for the drinks world of the future?
My vision for the future of the drinks world – across the spectrum – is on the one hand that it should show respect for certain traditions and certain forms of expression. Wine must remain wine. Beer, cider and spirits have to stay, but without preventing other styles of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks from emerging. Regarding alcohol-free drinks, I think the future is more about the emerging drinks space, in new styles of drinks. Maybe it also involves resurrecting ancient drinks. I mean drinks like horchata and tepache in Mexico. I’m thinking boza in Bulgaria. There is a whole host of traditional non-alcoholic beverages which already allow us to offer myriad interesting drinks by tweaking them to suit today’s tastes.
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