He's got some bottle! Water sommelier on how he is making a splash in the restaurant world
The sommelier's role in a restaurant is typically to help diners choose an appropriate wine for their meal.
But now extensive water menus, with bottles costing up to $20 each, have sparked a bizarre trend for specialist water sommeliers.
Restaurant manager Martin Riese, who works at Ray's and Stark, the restaurant inside the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, completed a $3,000 week-long course at Doemen's, in his native Germany, to acquire his water sommelier certification.
Intense: Martin Riese launched a special 45-page water menu at Ray's & Stark Bar at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 2013
'All waters have unique tastes,' he told the Los Angeles Times.
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'A lot of Americans think water is just water, but I completely don't believe in that. Water has so many interesting nuances.'
Beverly Hills 90H20: Mr Riese created a beverage that retails for $12 a bottle and uses water from Sierra Nevada spring
Mr Riese, who launched his restaurant's first-ever water menu this week, says the list features 20 different kinds of water, from 12 countries across the globe.
Among the bottles on offer are familiar upscale brands like Voss, Fiji and Badoit, as well as a water he created himself, called Beverly Hills 90H20.
The $12-a-bottle beverage uses water from Sierra Nevada spring, and according to Fox News, is a highlight of the menu.
But Mr Riese is not the only one cashing in on the demand for gourmet water.
New York cafe Molecule sells city tap water that has been through a seven-stage filtration process, for $2.50 a glass, while London hotel Claridges also offers guests a water menu.
Antony Rettie, director at Anteater PR, who has represented restaurants in the U.S. and the UK, told MailOnline that the industry is simply reaping the economic benefits of what is already a multi-million dollar business.
He said: 'For restaurants themselves, sourcing waters and training staff in their specific qualities can be an expensive and time consuming process, however the trend for multiple waters can also represent financial benefits to the operator who can command high prices for greatly marked-up products.
'The variety available indicates a higher level of luxury, something that can really matter to demanding customers in contemporary restaurant culture,' he explained.
Water menu: Among the bottles on offer are familiar upscale brands like Fiji, Voss and Badoit
And others in the industry insist there is a consumer demand for high-end H20.
'The trend for multiple waters can represent financial benefits to the restaurant, which can command high prices for greatly marked-up products'
'We're a business,' Claridges' Gill Christophers told ABC. 'We wouldn't do this unless there was a demand for it.'
But the concept still generates ridicule: food blogs were in hysterics in 2011 after a Wall Street Journal reporter posted a photo of a water menu while dining at Bazaar at the SLS Hotel in LA.
'Clearly there is an argument that the concept of a water sommelier is taking things too far,' Mr Rettie said. 'There is a finite section of the population who will subscribe to this overly refined approach, however for the majority of us, iced/tap will remain the water of choice.'
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