LOS ANGELES —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
After years of serving an imported Italian bottled water at his fine-dining restaurant Grace and the more recently opened BLD here, Fraser has decided to feature “house-bottled” water instead. By that, he means tap water that has been filtered through a sophisticated reverse-osmosis system and, for patrons who want a bubbly version, carbonated by the restaurant. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
Grace and BLD are among an increasing number of restaurants—from Alice Waters’ iconic Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif., to Mario Batali’s Del Posto in New York—that are moving away from the sale of bottled water, either because of growing environmental concerns about waste and the energy-related costs of transporting imported water, or because they deem those imports no safer or better-tasting than what comes out of the local tap. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
However, the decision to “go green” by offering tap water can be a costly one for restaurants. Fraser, for example, pays about $1 for each of the bottles of imported bottled water that he offers, but he sells them for $6 to $7, which adds a significant boost to his bottom line. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
That’s why Fraser, unlike many tap-water-touting operators, is thinking about charging his customers for his purified house brand. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
“Selling water is a huge profit source for us,” said Fraser, arguing that a house carafe of water could sell for roughly $3 to $4, about half the price of the bottled water he plans to phase out in his restaurants. “That’s why I think we’ll probably charge for it.” —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
He said green-minded customers would understand the restaurant is adding value to tap water. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
The reverse-osmosis systems cost roughly $500 per month to lease for his two restaurants, and Fraser expects to spend another $900 to $1,200 per year on filters. Tests have shown the restaurants’ filtered water has fewer contaminants and a better taste than the bottled alternative, he said. The house water is served well-chilled in attractively funky science-lab-like beakers. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
Still, Fraser admitted that he had not yet convinced his partners that charging for the house water—now offered for free—is the right choice. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
Other operators who eschew bottled water say other returns outweigh the loss in profits. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
“I think it comes back to us in customer goodwill,” said Mark Pastore, owner of Incanto in San Francisco, which is credited as one of the first restaurants to make the decision not to sell bottled water when it opened five years ago. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
Incanto has a $5,000 filtration system, which includes carbonation and chilling equipment. Pastore said he spends about $750 per year to replace filters. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
The upside, he said, is that the offer of free, high-quality water is perceived by guests as generous and hospitable—and good for the environment. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
Glass carafes at Incanto, for example, are used an estimated 2,000 times before they brake. That’s preferable to contributing 2,000 single-use bottles to the nation’s waste or an overburdened recycling program, Pastore said. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
Not selling bottled water frees up refrigerator space for white wine service, he added. Also, perhaps guests would spend more money on food and wine. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
“I think many diners have a number in their heads when they go out to dine, and when you don’t charge for water, they might be more inclined to spend that money elsewhere on the menu,” he said. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
Fine-dining entrepreneur and veteran chain leader Larry Mindel, who now is managing partner of the upscale Italian restaurant Poggio in Sausalito, Calif., agreed. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
In addition to environmental concerns, Mindel’s decision not to sell bottled water at Poggio stemmed from his own distaste for being asked to buy bottled water. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
“I always got uptight when a waiter approaches my table and says, usually with an attitude, ‘Do you want sparkling or still?’” he said. “What that meant to me was, for a table of six, three large bottles of water that I had to pay for. At $8 per bottle, I’m blowing $24 on water from the Swiss Alps, which is no better than San Francisco tap water.” —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
Still, Mindel, founder and former chairman of Corte Madera, Calif.-based Il Fornaio (America) Corp., acknowledged that the decision to jettison bottled water is more complicated for chain restaurants. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
Mindel serves on the board of the upscale restaurant-bakery chain Il Fornaio, but he said there had been “no serious discussion” about stopping the sale of Italian bottled water at its 22 branches. The company also owns and franchises the 98-unit Corner Bakery Cafe fast-casual concept, based in Dallas. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
Chains like Il Fornaio face the added complication of debating the relative merits of tap water from different municipalities. The quality of tap water varies from city to city. And though officials in San Francisco and New York recently launched programs touting the safety and tastiness of their local tap water, customer acceptance varies as well. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
Tap water is regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and bottled water is regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Many scientists contend that tap water is more strictly regulated because cities must test water quality regularly and produce annual reports to the public. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
The Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group based in New York, conducted studies in 1999 that found that bottled water isn’t necessarily purer or safer than tap water, and quality varies among bottling companies. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
Still, American consumption of bottled water was on the rise last year. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
According to the International Bottled Water Association, based in Alexandria, Va., Americans drank more than 27.6 gallons of bottled water per capita in 2006, up from 25.4 gallons per capita the previous year. Wholesale sales of bottled water topped $10.8 billion, up 8.5 percent from 2005. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
For Peter Censky, executive director of the Chicago-based Water Quality Association, a nonprofit group representing the manufacturers of water-filtration systems, increased bottled water consumption indicates a distrust of tap water that has gone through “ugly pipes” or potentially has been compromised by problems within municipal systems. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
Restaurant water filtration systems fall into two major categories: reverse-osmosis, which removes most salts, metals and inorganic materials; and carbon-based filters, which generally are selected on the basis of the type of contaminants the buyer wants to remove. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
Reverse-osmosis filters tend to be more expensive. Some types could be considered wasteful, from an environmental standpoint, because as many as three gallons of tap water can be needed to produce one gallon of filtered water, Censky said. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
Some operators don’t see a need for filters. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
Robert Carroll Sr., owner of the 34-year-old Bayside Restaurant in Westport, Mass., recently decided to stop selling bottled water because of concern about waste and his fears that beverage conglomerates are taking control of water rights around the globe. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
The Bayside, which Carroll said was the first restaurant in Massachusetts to be certified by the Boston-based Green Restaurant Association, is served by a well. The restaurant is designated as a “public water supplier,” which means the well is tested monthly by the EPA and reports are posted in plain view of customers. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
“Our well is one of the best around,” Carroll said. Before the switch, Bayside bought bottled water at about 19 cents per bottle and sold it for about $1.50, he said. Now it’s tap water only. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
“We’ve given up a pretty good profit, but we’ve taken the larger view,” Carroll said. “We were recycling way back, even before the town accepted recycling. We even banned smoking in 1988, even though my wife and I at the time still smoked. That’s just who we are.” —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
A move away from serving bottled water is just one of potentially hundreds of actions that restaurant operators could take to reduce their impact on the environment, said Michael Oshman, executive director of the nonprofit Green Restaurant Association. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
Simply serving water only on request will help conservation efforts, for example. Operators also could offer locally produced bottled water, which would reduce energy costs associated with water transportation. —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
“To see taking something off the menu with a high profit margin as a money loser is looking at it myopically,” he said. “But you have to look at the long term. At the end of the day, the one who made the small sacrifices will be the one better off.” —Noted chef-restaurateur Neal Fraser is known for his sophisticated creations using the best local ingredients, but lately he has been thinking a lot about water.
