No one wants to head out for a night on the town and end up looking like a total rube or a certified doofus. But, if we’re gonna keep it real, certain drink orders (at least from the bartender’s point of view) absolutely scream: “civilian.” As in: nice person, good intentions, but clearly not a restaurant insider.
However, if you want the bartender to clock you as someone in the restaurant industry, or just make that assumption, there is a solution. Solomon Ince (@chefsolomonince), the chef at a “Michelin-quality” catering company in New York City shares the tip. And since his TikTok has been watched 233,800 times, evidently at least a small corner of the internet is listening.
His suggestion for looking like you belong and maybe earning a little bartender respect?
“Easy, easy solution,” he says. “Order Frenet.”
Frenet, Malört, Meletti, And Rumple Minze
It almost goes without saying that the internet can’t just say (the online equivalent of) “thanks for the tip” and move on. Instead, folks are posting up in the comments, seemingly spoiling for a fight.
“Frenet was over like 6 years ago,” Nathan (@wintertrianglemusic) wrote in the top comment. “Meletti is the new industry flag.”
However, Leah (@geekgothgirl) suggested that there’s always something more pungent to drink. “I order Malört, I hate Frenet,” she wrote.
It seems, though, that these drinks are just the latest iteration in the bar and restaurant industry’s long-standing tradition of literally drinking on the job.
“I worked on a college bar all through the 2000’s. Back then the industry drink was Rumple. It leaves your breath minty and clean while giving you a buzz. How did thank change to a drink that tastes like an old attic box? I’ll stick to rumple and talk about the good ol days, back when a bar fight was a spectator sport and nobody called the law,” said Okie4life (@okie4life).
Why Are Digestifs So Popular With Restaurant Workers?
A digestif (or digestive) is a drink consumed after a meal. So technically, yes, a Budweiser after a burger would constitute a digestif. But generally, digestif signals a complex liqueur, often with herbal overtones.
“Many spirits that are identified as digestifs began as medicinal tonics centuries ago,” notes the Spruce Eats. “The herbs, spices, and other flavoring ingredients in these elixirs were designed to calm the stomach or have other medicinal benefits. Somewhere around the 18th century, these spirits were brought to the formal dining table.”
Frenet, Malört, Meletti, and Rumple Minze all fall into this category. They also share other qualities. Among them, strong, bitter and herbal flavors, and the purported ability to help settle a stomach after a rich meal. One food writer even confessed that sipping on Frenet helped mitigate the effects of eating too much bone marrow—on more than one occasion.
No Really, It’s Medicine
There’s the idea that it cleanses the palate after a long day of tasting food. “It’s minty, refreshing, and quite strong … it’s not heavy on your palate, either – you almost feel like it cleans your mouth and makes your stomach ready for another meal,” explains a U.K.-based bar manager.
Malört and Meletti also fall into the bitter drink category. Malört—hugely popular in Chicago—is “bäskbrännvin,” a traditional Swedish-style bitters. Sold during Prohibition, it was advertised to “rid its imbibers of stomach worms and other parasites in the body.” No one, said its maker, would drink it recreationally.
Meletti (Amaro Meletti) is an Italian digestif that’s been made by the same family for 150 years. It is described as being milder, with caramel and herbal notes, but nonetheless, it too ends with a bitter finish.
Secret Handshake?
But there’s more to the story than overconsumption and alcoholic Tums. According to Food and Wine, Frenet can also be a kind of “bartender’s handshake.” That is a way to greet or “bid adieu” to friends and colleagues with a shot.
Like Rumple Minze, because of its strong, minty (some say toothpaste-like) scent, bartenders and other restaurant industry workers could share a shot of Frenet and not reek of alcohol.
It’s this harshness, this ability to make the imbiber wince as they swallow it that also informs the restaurant industry’s embrace. It can be a rite of passage and badge of honor for many workers: learning how to take the bitter shot and enjoy it.
Of course, the question remains: Do they work, or are they just a reason to linger at the bar a little longer? The Epicurean Trader argues they do: “Every time we consume something bitter, it sends a message to our digestive system”
All this to say: cheers to digestion.
@chefsolomonince They know every time #cooking #linecook #industry #restaurant #michelin
We’ve reached out to Solomon Ince for comment.