A 'California sober' bar opens on Frenchmen with zero-proof cocktails, THC drinks, more

A new bar on Frenchmen Street isn't serving alcohol, making it the first of its kind in New Orleans.

Mélange in the Marigny opens Friday and focuses on drinks made with zero-proof liquor and THC-infused beverages. The non-alcoholic bar is part of a growing shift toward sans-booze revelry at nightlife venues across the U.S.

Owned by Monica Olano, the space has the patina of any other bar on the famed nightlife strip. In the days before opening to the public, live jazz floated up from downstairs as a bartender poured zero-proof spirits into shot glasses, flipped them into a silver shaker and joggled the mix. Beneath a dim-lit chandelier, martini and wine glasses dangled from a wooden rack above the bar, and a window opened onto a filigreed balcony.

But the row of displayed elixirs — some