Pure water

This Natura Water System, used at Le Bernadin and Le Cirque in New York, and at the Peninsula Hotel in Chicago, was recently installed at Tomasso Trattoria & Enoteca, the first local restaurant to have it. Co-owner Mary Prince emailed to say, "Basically, the system is a stainless steel box that converts our regular tap water into perfect tasting, healthy drinking still or sparkling water free of additives and bacteria yet with all the thirst quenching minerals and better than any bottled water. We serve the water in sleek one litre bottles and sell it to our guests for $6 as our bottled water. We sterilize the bottles after each use and reuse them indefinitely."

She goes on to say that they're trying to offset the damage done to the environment with plastic and glass bottle disposal, plus the cost of shipping water. All admirable, except for the $6 charge. What would be terrific is a restaurant installing this and passing on minimal expenses to the customer. In most cases, I prefer local tap water to a $12 or $18 water bill.