Recipe: St. Lawrence’s Chez Solange Brown Butter Mocktail

Recipes by David Lawson | Photos by Kristi Alexandra

When St. Lawrence’s once-beverage director David Lawson (now co-owner of the spot’s sister restaurant, Chez Céline) was developing this spirit-free winter cocktail, he channelled his own grandmother to create a recipe that combines long-infused chamomile tea, brown sugar, cinnamon and a brown butter fat-washed syrup to capture her memory.

“When he was young and visited his grandmother, the house would smell like brown butter and cinnamon,” says current bar manager Vivien Laforest. “So, he just wanted to do something for her.”

This ode to Lawson’s grandmother is called the Chez Solange, and it appears on the restaurant’s cocktail menu each winter.

Chez Solange

Makes 1 drink

Ingredients

• 30 ml HP non-alcoholic gin (or your favourite non-alc or traditional gin)
• 30 ml brown sugar syrup (see recipe below)
• 15 ml Noa amaro (or your favourite non-alc or traditional amaro)
• 10 ml lemon juice
• 2 dashes black walnut bitters

Method

Put all ingredients in a martini shaker with ice. Stir, then remove ice and dry shake. Pour into a coupe glass and garnish with grated cinnamon or coffee.

Brown Sugar Syrup

Makes 1 drink

Ingredients

• 500 ml chamomile tea
• 500 ml brown sugar
• 1½ tbsp cinnamon
• 175 g melted brown butter

Method

Infuse the tea, sugar and cinnamon into the melted butter overnight. The next day, put the mixture in the freezer. After one hour, remove from the freezer and trim away the butter cap.

Storage instructions: Store in the fridge to preserve the syrup. Will keep for up to two months.

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READ MORE:

• Recipe: I’m Not Your Baby
• Recipe: Umbrella Bella
• 3 Easy, Refreshing Alcohol-Free Cocktails to Sip All Summer

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Originally published as “L’Esprit de Grand-mère” in the November/December 2026 issue of Western Living magazine. Subscribe to Western Living for more recipes, design inspiration and stories from across Western Canada.