Dandelyan, the award-winning bar at Mondrian London, has launched the second chapter of this year’s cocktail menu, The Modern Life of Plants.
Coming just three months after the release of the first chapter, the newest menu is a further exploration by Ryan Chetiyawardana (AKA Mr Lyan) and his team into the role that global large-scale production has had on plant life in the modern world and the everyday ingredients that are used in the food and drink industry.
Their explorations and musings buck the current trend in the industry for seasonality, small-batched and foraged ingredients, instead championing the use of core ingredients grown as systemised crops within a large-scale food chain.
Born out of the belief that sustainability doesn’t need to be about sacrifice, and that better, balanced agriculture is a more realistic progression, this new chapter of the menu is designed to kick off a discussion that is crucial around the future of our food.
The menu is again focused around three core ingredients – mint, hops and grapes – which, thanks to industrialisation are available year-round. Each ingredient has been through Dandelyan’s unique and in-depth research and development process that involves the whole team researching how each plant lives, is reproduced and, in this instance, grown on a mass scale to meet demand.
The menu includes four cocktails created from each ingredient, with each section including a signature ‘boozeless’ version, as well as a ‘classics’ section that chops and changes from the bar’s previous menus to feature the team’s favourites.
As with all Dandelyan menus, guests can expect to be greeted with a ‘modern’ approach, a new experience and a memorable cocktail – the list includes:
Pantone Spritz - Plymouth Gin, black rice, Cocchi Rosa, low fructose red corn syrup, bubbles
HMS Hi-ball - Empirical Spirits’ Koji Hooch with Lyan Lily distillate, sunshine milk, endive, soda
King Pig Sour - Bacardi Carta Blanca, salt cedar, pig weed, pine, lemon
Continuing Dandelyan’s overarching ethos of ‘Modern Botany’, the menu explores the science and art that is at play in the human adaptation of plant and animal life, which pushes plants and plant life beyond their normal ‘natural’ biological terms.
In a move away from Dandelyan’s signature chapters, which have been created annually since the bar’s launch, the new menu – and the ‘new book’ – are the beginning of a new series for the team. Previous menus have focused on topics such as the ‘designations’ of botany (Cereal, Mineral, Floral and Vegetal); ‘keystone species’ and the interconnectedness of botany; and how plants shapes have shaped civilisation. All of these subjects have been explored in non-literal manner, with the team looking to create exciting stories to showcase to guests.
Founder of Dandelyan Ryan Chetiyawardana said, “We’ve chosen to focus on mass production and industrialisation with this new menu as it is something we’re genuinely interested by.
'The ethos of Dandelyan and the other menus all point to it, and it seemed an important, and realistic aspect of the future of food that others were ignoring.
'Like sustainability, it’s (seemingly) not a sexy subject but it’s actually super interesting. We want to focus on that marrying a realistic approach to scale with a grounding in what we value; deliciousness, authenticity and sustainability.”
Chetiyawardana continued, The beauty of the format we’ve developed is that we can adapt elements throughout the year. It was designed to nod to a botany plate where all the aspects of the plant – roots, seeds, leaves, flowers – are displayed so you can map changes regardless of time of year.
'So, we’ll stick with the three plants for this year whilst we research other plants that are changing the way we plant and grow (and manufacture).”
The Modern Life of Plants will be updated three times during the year – with the final chapter being launched in the last quarter of 2018. Each update will highlight a different aspect of the plant and its position in the modern world.