Adventures in Non-Alcoholand
Lona Misa, NON, and a Dry July detour.
Full disclosure, I am not partaking in Dry July. I am having my normal level of wet month, exacerbated by Melbourne’s repulsive weather, and the irresistible allure of pub fireplaces that comes with it. To be even more candid, this past Monday I was drinking a Guinness well before sunrise; debauched behaviour, but if the entirety of a heaving Steam Packet Hotel in Williamstown, gathered to once again naively cheer on the English football team’s quest to “bring it home” were anything to judge by, I was far from the only one.
My fascination with Dry July is instead more rooted in the marketing and psychology of NA (non alcoholic) drink producers. How do you imbue something that is essentially a replacement with the prestige and desirability of the original? It’s not easy, but it’s something that canny local producers are starting to get their heads around.
The deeply Australian stigma of being “soft” for not drinking booze is thankfully starting to fade. Responsible drinking, and even complete abstinence, has never been more common, and in addition to a slick and smart slew of retail products, restaurants have more commonly begun to embrace NA drink pairings with their menus. This past week I was a guest at South Yarra’s Lona Misa, Shannon Martinez’s plush ode to Latino plant-based cooking. This July, Lona Misa is offering a special matched menu featuring Australia’s own clubhouse leader in the NA wine arms race, NON, and after trying the NON product sporadically over the years, I was interested to see how it matches with food. Let’s have a look at the menu.
To start, pan con queso fresco, a delightfully charred flat bread with fermented “cheese” curd, dukkah and salsa macha. For those uninitiated, salsa macha is a dry roasted, nutty Mexican chilli oil, and an instant flavour and texture hack for those who like it spicy. If one of the measurements of a restaurant like Lona Misa is for the diner to be unable to tell if a dish is plant based, this one passes with flying colours. The soy curd is delicious, creamy with the faint bitterness of a stracciatella, the fragrant dukkah and craggly, rugged heat of the sala macha bringing you back for more.
Alongside, an acaraje of black eyed peas and masa, served over a vatapa sauce. Acarje are a sort of Brazilian street food fritter, here stuffed with mock prawn meat. Though distinctly Latino, this dish had the southeast Asian funk and fragrance of fish sauce, the vatapa not dissimilar to a coarse, creamy satay. While this dish wasn’t able to replicate the natural juiciness of real prawns, the golden savouriness of the fritters and electric shock of flavour running through the vetapa made for a tasty snack.
These dishes were matched with NON 3, a flinty pale NA wine flavoured with toasted cinnamon and yuzu. Saline and bright with verjus acidity and a dry finish, this is the NON flavour that best replicates the effect of champagne, pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc, and would be a great pair with seafood and antipasti.
Our mains of alubias de la granja y Espinacas (giant braised beans with spinach and breadcrumbs) and salpicao slaw (herby shredded mock chicken salad with lime crema) were matched with NON 1, which I’d loosely describe as NON’s riff on rosé. Made by cold-steeping freeze dried raspberries, this method concentrates the flavour of the fruit, the honeyed grassy notes of chamomile lending this drink to pairings with citrus-heavy dishes and desserts.
To finish, the seductive wobble of a flan Mexicano, with warm spice, burnt caramel and citrus, something I’d never guess was plant based. This was matched with my personal pick of the NON products, number 7, with flavours of stewed cherry and coffee. Deep, dark spicy notes with a jammy, bitter body, this was a sublime drink, and would do wonders matched with good dark chocolate.
234 Toorak Rd, South Yarra VIC 3141
(03) 9116 2000