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Home / FineWaters Diary |
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Water, Water & More Bottled Waters We were invited to a friend's house for dinner on our last night in Paris, and my husband Sam wanted to take a bottle of wine or two. So we headed back to the Galeries Lafayette and its gourmet food and wine sections. While he wandered around the wine boutique, I wandered around the Galeries version of a grocery store looking at bottled waters for sale. I found an amazing variety of bottled water for sale. I shouldn't have been surprised. "France is the top international producer of bottled water, and the French are its biggest consumers, downing 85 liters per person each year," according to France Today. "An estimated 40 percent of the French population buys branded water. There are 47 brands in France, all doing well in a proliferation of specialized niches." So, it's not surprising the Galeries offered a wide range of options. On the shelf the day I visited were: Evian, Vittle, Volvic, Hepar, Perrier, Badoit, Arvie, St. Yorre, La Salvetat, Quezac, Contre, Valvert, Mont Roucous, Jouvence de Wattwiller, St. Georges, Harrogate Spa, Bru, Cristaline, Hildon, Tau, Nash's Mineral Water, Ramlosa, Highland Spring, Gerolsteiner, Ferrareel, Decantae, Lynx, Ty Nant, Appollinaris (both classic and private), Selters, Montes, and the Microfluid series - Microfluid, Microfluid Sun Water, Minicifluid, and Nicofluid. That's a selection to write home about. Shopping Galeries Lafayette 40 Blvd Haussmann (between Rues de la Chaussee-d'Antin and de Mogador) 75009 Paris, France Metro: Chaussee-d'Antin-La Fayette, Opera, Trinite, Havre-Caumartin References "The new chic item isn't destined to be a short-lived fad-it's one of the four elements," by Emilie Ledoyen in France Today One More Gourmet Meal Today was our last full day in Paris, and one more chance for a gourmet meal. My husband Sam had picked LaTour d'Argent, one of the more famous restaurants in Paris. According to Access Paris (8th Edition), "...its penthouse panorama of Notre-Dame's flying buttresses and the barges passing on the Seine have helped make it the city's most famous and spectacular eating establishment..."  The restaurant is known for its pressed duck. During the Third Republic, "the famous Federic crated the ritual of the 'Canard au Sang' and decreed that each duck would bear a number," according to the restaurant's history. Since then, every duckling has been registered. We ordered pressed duck 1019847, and after all the hype we had great expectations. But frankly, we were disappointed. I'm not sure if it was the extra 22,00 Euros each for the Tour d'Argent pressed duck, its appearance (all brown - both the duck and the sauce by itself - on a white plate) or the ordinary flavor, but we were left wondering what all the fuss was about - even though the appetizer and dessert were fabulous.Moreover, the water service was also disappointing. We once again ordered Chateldon 1650 (France), but this time, it tasted entirely different from our Taillevent experience on Monday ( See "Taillevent: A Three-Star Experience"). It was served cold from the bottle and poured into a metal, probably silver-plated, water glass. This time the Chateldon water competed with the food and wine, rather than complement it. The bubbles got in the way rather than act as a nice palate cleanser. And the mouthfeel was abrupt rather than refreshing. The difference was truly astonishing. I began to really believe there was something to this fine waters finesse. Restaurants La Tour d-Argent 15-17, Quai de la Tournelle (between Blvd. St. Germain and Rue du Cardinal-Lemoine) 75005 Paris, France Tel: (011) 33 1 43 54 23 31 Fax : (011) 33 1 44 07 12 04 Metro: Cardinal-Lemoine or Maubert-Mutualite Fine Waters Chateldon 1650 (France) References Access Paris, by Richard Saul Wurman. Harper Collins Publishers Inc. Photo: The dinning room of La Tour d'Argent from the postcard with our numbered duck. Tuesday, September 07, 2004 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. Monday, September 06, 2004
Taillevant: A Three-Star Experience
Taillevent Knows Its Food (and Water)  Although Taillevent is not a water bar, we really did have a fine waters experience there. Not only was it a fabulous meal, but the water also complimented everything nicely.The Access Paris guidebook (8th Edition) says Taillevent "...is as close as a restaurant comes to perfection" and it is "...one of the best dining spots in Paris." We haven't sampled all the Paris dining spots (yet), but my husband and I agree that it comes close to perfection. According to the Taillevent description of its own history: "Guillaume Tirel (1310-1395) was the cook to the Court of France at the time of the first Valois kings and the Hundred Years War. When he began his career as an 'enfant de cuisine,' or kitchen boy, for Jeanne d'Evreux, he received the name 'Taillevent.'" Chef Taillevent is best known for his work entitled Le Viandier, a collection of his recipes as requested by King Charles V in 1379. Le Viandier is considered the founding text of French cooking. "To his outstanding qualities as a cook, Taillevent added a creative spirit, for he is thought to be the inventor of the saulcisse (sausage) and a delicate pastry called the Mirliton du Pont-Audemer," adds the restaurants historian. We Go with the Chef's Choices When it came to ordering lunch at this three-star Paris restaurant (ranked by the famous Michelin Red Guide to hotels and restaurants), we put ourselves in the hands of professionals. Using the assumption that the chef knows best, we ordered the recommended prix fixe lunch. It's our favorite way to dine because we have more courses with smaller portions and get more tastes. Plus would the chef recommend anything that he didn't think was outstanding? I doubt it. The next assumption was that the wine sommelier also knew best, so we asked him to pair the wines with the food. Not only was this an excellent dining choice, but it was also a good financial choice. As it turned out, we paid about the same for our glasses of wine specifically paired to the foods as an expensive bottle of wine that would have to work with all courses. We started with a glass of champagne for an aperitif and then had half-bottles of three different wines - a sweet white wine, a white Burgundy and a red Burgundy. But, when it came to ordering water, we took a bold step and ordered our own. We had two choices, sparkling or still. Having just had and enjoyed the sparkling Chateldon 1650 (France) that morning at Le Bar a Bulles in the Galeries Lafayette, we requested it to go with our meal. Fine Water Served in Style I didn't realize until later when we dined at another fine Paris restaurant that the Taillevent also knew how to serve its fine waters. Before ordering, I noticed the water bottles were sitting out on a table in the dining room, thus indicating that they were close to room temperature. A good sign because water is best served at 54 - 62 degrees Fahrenheit or 12 - 17 degrees Celsius, depending on its FineWaters Balance(TM). Also, the bottle was uncorked, or in this case, uncapped and breathing. Our Chateldon 1650 (at 5,00 Euros) was served in a stemmed glass of the same quality as the wine glasses, and although I don't know for sure, they felt like Riedel glasses, a good choice for drinking fine wines. Because the bottled water was at room temperature and opened, it had just the slightest fizz. It was the perfect complement to the meal and to the carefully chosen wines. The experience all around was perfect. Restaurant Taillevent 15 Rue Lamennais (between Rue Washington and Ave de Friedland) 75008 Paris, France Tel: (011) 33 1 44 95 15 01 Metro: Charles-de-Gaulle-Etoile or Strasbourg-St. Denis E-mail: mail@taillevent.com Fine Waters & Stemware Chateldon 1650 (France) FineWaters Balance(TM) Riedel -The Fine Wine Glass Company References Access Paris, by Richard Saul Wurman. Harper Collins Publishers Inc. Michelin Red Guide (Europe Main Cities), by Michelin. Michelin Travel Publications The Assignment: Research Paris Water Bars The assignment was to do market research in Paris. My job was to visit the Paris water bars listed at FineWaters (TM) and report back. How tough can that be? As it turns out, it's not that easy. As a novice fine bottled water drinker, I was a little hesitant and unsure, and did not know what I was looking for or what to ask for. Our first stop was Le Bar a Bulles, a small champagne and water bar in the middle of a women's clothing section on the first floor (that's the second floor in the US) of Galeries Lafayette. For those new to Paris, the Galeries Lafayette is a three-block department store in the ninth arrondissement in Paris that has become a destination stop on its own. The store's advertising is everywhere - on metro billboards, in the free city guide in the hotel room, special brochures at tourist information stops, etc. It's pervasive and its tagline says Galeries Lafayette is "the department store capital of fashion." And that includes fashionable food. We Stop in for a Little Bubbly - Water, That Is The Bulles bar serves water and champagne because they both have bubbles, hence the name Bulles. There are additional beverages, including soft drinks, beer, and espresso. Weary or overwhelmed shoppers can stop in for a quick pick-me up so they can continue through the 18 different floors of the Galleries. My husband Sam and I stopped in around 11:00 a.m. to test a few waters before lunch. They had seating for about a dozen people, and it was one-fourth full when we arrived. As it got closer to lunchtime, a few more people stopped by. We noticed that we were the only ones ordering water. Champagne was the main attraction, but there were still a wide variety of waters to choose from. Of the display space on the bar's only wall, 80% was devoted to champagne, the rest to water displaying bottled water. We entered the bar, sat at the counter, and ordered water. Of course, it is a little more complicated than that because there were 22 unflavored waters on the menu from nine countries or specific geographic locations. What to Order? My husband and I looked at each other, looked at the menu, shrugged our shoulders, and semi-randomly picked a couple of waters. Before actually ordering, we asked the bartender for a recommendation. But nearly as we could tell, this was his first day and he didn't have any water recommendations. We then pointed to the menu to place our order. Unfortunately, our French only includes some basic words, such as eau, minerale and naturelle, with eau being "water" and the other words similar to their English versions. The bartender went to the refrigerator (none of the waters were at room temperature meaning that there was still a learning curve here about serving fine waters) and started pulling out bottles of water and showing them to us. This was not a language problem; it reflected what was in stock. We Try Four Waters and Get a Little Waterlogged We ordered St. Georges (France) at 2,50 Euros, a still water with a pure, clean taste and Selters (Germany) at 2,80 Euros that had a medium fizz. We drank the water and wondered what we were supposed to feel or taste or how to define our fine waters experience. When those two bottles were finished, we asked for two more. The bartender went back to the refrigerator and starting pulling out more bottles to show us. We randomly picked Montes at 2,80 Euros (Italy) and Chateldon 1650 (France) (not listed on the menu). I do not remember the Montes and did not seem to make any notes on its taste or mouthfeel. The Chateldon 1650 turned out, however, to be my favorite of the four. My notes call it a "light, sparkling water." In Chateldon 1650, the 1650 stands for the year the water was first bottled and made available. According to the Food Reference Website, "Europeans long ago discovered the health giving properties of mineral waters... Back in 1654, the court physician of Versailles presented a bottle of Chatledon from Auvergne to Louis XIV to cure his gout and other assorted illnesses largely attributed to gourmandise and gluttony." At Bulles, all the bottled waters were served in a clear, somewhat heavy water glass with the bottled water brand name Vittel stamped in red letters on the side. I have to say that the advertising took away from the water drinking experience and seemed somehow inappropriate. It's like going into a wine bar and having all the wine glasses stamped with the name of a single wine producer in big letters on the side. Not part of the fine beverage experience. Feeling only slightly waterlogged, we paid up and scurried to our next stop, lunch at Taillevent. Water Bars Le Bar a Bulles at Galeries Lafayette 40 Blvd Haussmann (between Rues de la Chaussee-d'Antin and de Mogador) 75009 Paris, France Metro: Chaussee-d'Antin-La Fayette, Opera, Trinite, Havre-Caumartin Fine Waters St. Georges (France) Chateldon 1650 (France) References "Bottled Water - A Profit Center for Restaurants" by Hrayr Berberoglu from the Food Reference Website. Sunday, September 05, 2004
Paris Prep: Recommended Reading
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