[A-List] Upscale restaurants shun bottled water

[Bill Totten]

by Michelle Locke, Associated Press Writer

Associated Press Writer (March 29 2007)


Bye-bye bottled water. Hello eau de tap. A new trend is in the pipeline, with
some upscale restaurants ditching packaged H2O in the name of conservation.

The bottled water backlash, which recently spread to the venerable Chez Panisse
restaurant in Berkeley, is spurred by environmental concerns over the energy
used in transportation as well as the disposal of all those containers.

"We just decided this was something we had to do", said Mike Kossa-Rienzi,
general manager of Chez Panisse, where owner Alice Waters has pioneered the 
eat local, eat fresh concept. "It just makes sense to us to not have to use 
all the energy and resources to bottle water in Italy and then truck it to our
restaurant and then after that deal with the recycling of it".

Chez Panisse stopped serving bottled non-sparkling water last year and expects
to stop serving bottled carbonated water in a few weeks, just as soon as the
restaurant's new carbonator is installed, said Kossa-Rienzi, who visited a San
Francisco restaurant, Incanto, to see how it made the switch some years ago.

Across the San Francisco Bay at Poggio in Sausalito, Larry Mindel has been
serving filtered tap water - he has a machine that filters and carbonates -
since the restaurant opened in 2003.

Environmental concerns are one factor. Another is price. Even though he could
charge diners double or triple what he pays for water, he said it gives him a
"stab" to pay so much - or charge others - for something that falls from the sky.

"Haven't you gone to a restaurant and they just expect you to order two or three
bottles of water and it's $27 by the time you're done?" he said. "I just thought
that from a consumer's point of view that they were getting shortchanged".

While lots of restaurants serve tap water, the trend of upscale places going
exclusively to tap appears to be new, said Gigi Kellett, associate campaigns
director for Corporate Accountability International, a Boston-based group that
is campaigning against bottled water as privatizing a public resource.

Not surprisingly, the notion of giving up the bottle fizzled with the
International Bottled Water Association, based in Alexandria, Virginia.
Spokesman Stephen Kay argued the switch wouldn't have that big of a conservation
impact and restricts customer choices.

On the other hand, Susan Leal, general manager of the San Francisco Public
Utilities Commission, said the switch will let city water shine.

"They're taking a step against the, I believe, deception that's going on out
there, which is that somehow bottled water is superior to tap water", Leal said.

Switching to municipal water can put a damper on profits since there's a healthy
markup on bottled water - no sommelier savvy required.

Back when he banned the bottle, Mindel recalls other restaurateurs raised their
eyebrows and asked if he knew what he was doing. In fact, said Mindel, he did.

"It's not like we've got bad water here. Our water's terrific", Mindel said. 
"I don't think we've had one single person that's said, 'Oh, can't you bring 
me Perrier'."

Customer Joan Nitis certainly endorsed the no-bottle approach Wednesday as she
lunched at Poggio with Anita Pira.

"I love that", she said. "Usually I don't have water in a restaurant, 
but here I do. It's just refreshing."

Pira appreciated not having to pay extra for water.

"We can buy more wine", she said with a smile.

___


On the Net:

Corporate Accountability International: http://www.stopcorporateabuse.org

International Bottled Water Association: http://www.bottledwater.org

Copyright (c) 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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