self carbonated bottled water in restaurants

April 22, 2007 4:23 PM

I am looking to serve tap water only in my restaurant, as chez panisse and other san francisco bay restaurants i have. i am in nyc and am wondering if anyone else has experience or advice on this process (most notably how to do the carbonation process)
posted by hardyboy to Food & Drink (6 answers total)

Carbonation could be done easily with a fountain same as fountain soft drinks.
posted by Mitheral at 4:33 PM on April 22, 2007

BTW -- be sure to market your NYC (carbonated) tap water as the preferred choice over other alternatives.

Penn & Teller discovered in a "taste test" of water in New York City that a significant majority (75%) preferred New York tap water over bottled water. [Part 1 and 2 of the episode].
posted by ericb at 4:53 PM on April 22, 2007

Carol Ness of the SF Chronicle wrote about the trend in March; according to her piece, Chez Panisse bought "a $400 carbonator the size of a big toaster" they found online which required minimal installation. I'm sure if you gave them a call (ask for Mike Kossa-Rienzi, the general manager) they'd be more than happy to tell you how and where to get it.
posted by lia at 5:16 PM on April 22, 2007

I agree, the NYC water is great. But one thing to be aware of is that water is sampled at street level taps, and, probably as a result of things detected, intermittently treated with additional chlorine. My tap water has a strong chlorine smell, oh, about one day every 5 or 6 months. Might want to keep a supply on hand as a buffer.
posted by StickyCarpet at 5:26 PM on April 22, 2007

I used to work for Slow Food San Francisco, a non-profit strongly associated with Alice Waters and Chez Panisse. From my experience with them, I would say that they would be happy to give you advice on transitioning. Alice Waters' office can be reached at 510.548.4795. Try calling and asking for advice.
posted by scrim at 6:30 AM on April 23, 2007

There are also businesses in New York that still make soda water, using the NYC water supply. For starters, there is this guy. Google searches may reveal others. It might be nice to offer a completely locally manufactured, distributed and marketed product like that. Also, it takes the work out of your hands.
posted by spicynuts at 9:49 AM on April 23, 2007