MDRD

MDRD occupies the 27th floor of the Tower wing at the Amway Grand Plaza on Monroe Avenue NW, which makes it the highest dining room in Grand Rapids and gives it panoramic views across the Grand River and the western half of the city. The name is the airport code shorthand for Madrid, and the cooking is modern Spanish: expressive entrees, a run of shareables built for the middle of the table, and desserts, held to a AAA Four Diamond standard. It is the city's default special-occasion room, and a weekend brunch service extends the same menu logic into the daytime with a Spanish brunch format.

That context is what makes its non-alcoholic list worth recording. A hotel fine-dining room at this price point is precisely where a guest who does not drink is most exposed: the wine pairing is the spine of the meal, the bar list is the house's showcase, and the fallback is usually sparkling water for three hours while everyone else is served something considered. MDRD does not run it that way. Its mixing team builds a mocktail selection as a standing part of the menu, and Experience Grand Rapids records that the talented mixologists here have also created a selection of nonalcoholic mocktails that are every bit as impressive as the rest of the menu. The best-documented of these is the Elote — fruity, iced and bright, finished with a mint garnish, and named after the Mexican street-corn preparation whose sweet-savoury profile it borrows. Non-alcoholic beers are also stocked for guests who want something simpler with the food. Dinner runs Tuesday through Thursday 4:30pm to 10pm and Friday and Saturday 4:30pm to 11pm; the restaurant is closed Sunday and Monday, and reservations are effectively required. For an anniversary or a business dinner where one person at the table is not drinking, it is the strongest option in the city.