Finally the cognoscenti catch up with me: Local tap water bubbles up in restaurants.
At a small but growing number of sustainably inclined Bay Area restaurants, bottled water has become as much of an outcast as farmed salmon and out-of-season tomatoes. Instead of bottled water, diners now are served free carafes of -- gasp! -- tap water. It's filtered and comes still or sparkling, fizzed up by a soda-fountain-style carbonating machine.
Back in the late 80s I started ordering "Croton Reservoir" in New York bars. In those days a bartender would know what you meant - the reservoir is a famous source of New York's prize-winning tap water. What is the point of ordering bottled water in New York, San Francisco or the East Bay, where the water tastes good and is of high quality?
And I dislike the waste of using individual or even large plastic water bottles. Serve pitchers of water, why don't you? That plastic stuff is usually from sources that are lower quality than what flows from the tap in my house.
If your local tap water isn't good, well, what are you going to do about it? Fight for good water!
