Tapping the Knowledge of Germany's Water Sommelier

[xchrom]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,774456,00.html

Rainwater is being served, rainwater that has traveled 16,000 kilometers (9,950 miles) from Tasmania to be sipped by a dozen guests sitting in club chairs in a timber-framed house in a Hamburg suburb. In front of the guests stands a man who is on the short side, wearing a suit and glasses. Jerk Martin Riese, 34, is the maître d' at the Michelin-starred First Floor restaurant in Berlin. There, he created a water menu with 40 different selections -- something for the bored diner to peruse if their partner is monopolizing the wine list.

Riese, who has the unusual job of water sommelier, will soon be moving to Los Angeles. But before he goes, he is attempting to leave behind a little bit of his expertise in the Hamburg cocktail bar Redroom.

A small group has assembled in the bar, including knowledgeable laypeople, business representatives, members of the trade press and restaurateurs. They have just been warming up for the occasion by tasting a particular variety of gourmet spring water, whose label claims that it has been "bio-energetically charged." More about that later.

The water tasting begins. First there is Norwegian spring water. It tastes soft. Then Tasmanian rainwater. It also tastes soft.

[Jefferson23]

1. Thanks for posting xchrom, I love the ending..priceless.

**Now, she says, he refuses to lap up anything other than energized water from his dish.


LOL

[xchrom]

2. yeah -- i thought that was funny. nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Will he keep the first name 'Jerk' in Los Angeles?

It has to be said, it fits his chosen way of making money.

Pretentious consumerism at its worst.