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We Visit Another a Water Bar Today we spent the morning visiting other Parisian specialty food stores and then headed over to Colette, a water bar in the basement of an upscale, trendy retail shop. Frommer's Paris guide describes Colette as a "a swank citadel for a la mode fashion." I didn't quite figure out its specialty, but it had everything from jewelry to CDs. When we walked downstairs to reach the water bar, we realized it was also a restaurant. Following the two-and-a-half hour lunch at Taillevent the previous day, the waistline and wallet required something more modest and this was just what we needed. Fortunately, we were a little early before the full lunch crowd, because within the hour the restaurant became very busy with shoppers, tourists, and businesspeople. The restaurant was modern, meaning sparse with clean lines, and with a blue and white color scheme. The waiters were all good-looking young men, dressed in jeans and light blue t-shirts with a fish on them blowing bubbles and the word, "goodenoughuk" on the front. The Waiter Recommends Our Bottled Waters Our server, Jerome, seemed knowledgeable about fine bottled waters. When we asked for a recommendation from the 60 kinds of bottled water listed on the menu, he said, "Select your lunch first, and I'll recommend the water." That seemed like a good sign. I ordered melon and Serrano ham and my husband ordered a salmon shish kebob, or in French, brochettes de saumon, and a green salad. The waiter brought two waters. Ogo (Switzerland) at 3,00 Euros is listed on the menu as a "next generation oxygen water," meaning that oxygen had been added to the water. Ogo is either a sparkling (which we ordered) or a still bottled water. The sparkling water opened up a little the glass, but kept its sparkle throughout our tasting. Drinking it was like having tiny, tiny bubbles floating in your mouth. The water came in a short (approximately five-inches high), round plastic bottled tinted a light, light blue with bright red lettering and a bright red cap. The bottle had the appearance of glass, and I had to feel it to be sure it was plastic. Edena (France) at 3,00 or 5,00 Euros (depending upon size of bottle) is from the French island de I'ile de la Reunion and is described on the menu as having a volcanic "temperament." It came in a translucent medium blue tinted plastic bottle reminiscent of a beer bottle in shape. It had a small fizz that went slightly flat. Both the Ogo and Edena sparkling bottled waters balanced nicely with the saltiness of my ham. But the bubbles seemed to compete with the smoother texture of my husband's salmon brochettes. Tasting More Water Is an Excuse for Dessert Because we needed to taste more water, we ordered a delicious raspberry and fruit tart. The waiter suggested St. Georges, but we had just tasted this at Le Bar e Bulles the day before and were looking to branch out into new fine waters. The waiter then brought several bottles of water to the table and suggested we try the water based on the design and shape of the bottles we liked best. It was my first experience with Voss bottled water (Norway) at 5,50 Euros, which has now become a favorite. The bottle is beautiful. It's in a frosted, cylindrical shaped glass bottle with white printing. According to Voss, "our design reflects a contemporary approach to a product living in the modern world." It is both a still and a sparkling water, and we felt the still went well with the dessert. We also tried Microfluid at 5,00 Euros (which I later found out comes in several versions), a water enriched with oxygen. It seemed to be my least favorite as it did not pair well with the food we had ordered. In keeping with the blue water theme, the waters were poured into cobalt blue water glasses (half size). Finishing our meal and water, the waiter asked if we wanted to take the different bottles home. We said no, thinking of our packed suitcases. Now, I wish we had. Water Bars Colette 213, rue Saint-Honore 75001 Paris - France Metro: Tuileries or Pyramides Open Monday - Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Tel: (011) 33 1 55 35 33 90 Fax: (011) 33 1 55 35 33 99 E-mail: info@colette.tm.fr Fine Waters St. Georges (France) Voss (Norway) References Frommer's Paris 2004, by Darwin Porter & Danforth Prince. Wiley Publishing, Inc.
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