Michelin-starred restaurant launches ‘water only’ menu with bottles selling for eye-watering sum

A MICHELIN star restaurant has made a splash by introducing Britain’s first water only menu, with some bottles costing up to £20.

The French fine dining restaurant wanted to experiment with its epicurean menu after pitching the idea three years ago.

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Owner of La Popote in Cheshire, Joseph Rawlins, 32, worked alongside one of only five water sommeliers in the country to put it together.

Joe, who is also the headchef of La Popote, gave the go ahead for the project at the beginning of the year.

Sommelier Doran Binder, 52, then spent the last seven months deciding on the best bottles to feature the water.

On offer from their menu is a selection of seven premium waters from across Europe to choose from – and they come served in wine glasses.

Four of these are still, including tap water, and four are sparkling.

The selection has been handpicked from various countries, including France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Iceland, and the UK.

At the cheaper end there is Doran’s own Crag Spring Water, which costs £5.

For those looking for something a bit more extravagant, at the high end there is the £19 Portuguese sparkling water – The Palace of Vidago.

Joe said: “The restaurant scene has changed a lot over the years we have been getting fewer big tables more groups of twos and fours.

“That means at least one person there will mostly likely be driving and not be drinking as such.

“To try and keep up with the market we wanted to offer something a bit different.

The restaurant’s wine prices range from £28 all the way to almost £400 per bottle.

In December 2022, La Popote was awarded a Michelin Guide listing, after Joe and his partner Gaëlle Radigon, 37, took over the restaurant in 2019.

As one of their valued suppliers to the restaurant, Doran then pitched the idea of a bottled water menue to Joe in June 2023 by inviting the couple for a water tasting.

He had been providing his award winning Crag Spring Water to the restuarant since 2018.

Joe said: “He had pitched the idea to us and we had a laugh about it as we were unsure what he meant by it at first.

“He then invited us down for a water tasting and that’s when we realised that water isn’t just water and explained he thinks there is an exciting new market.”

Water has a taste through the number of total dissolved solids that is found in the liquid, according to Doran.

This includes minerals absorbed naturally from the earth before the water is extracted from its source.

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With Gaëlle now pregnant and breastfeeding, Joe says the idea of an alternative to alcohol made even more sense: “There is a limit to what she can drink.

“We thought there was space for it so why not?”

So in January this year, they decided to go ahead with the idea.

Joe added: “We have noticed in the last 18 months a lot of people don’t drink as much and are looking for an alternative to alcohol.”

Across the the seven months of putting the menu together, it changed three times.

Doran also chose between hundred of bottles in order to make the perfect menu: “I had been working on a water menu for the last three or four years trying to get a restaurant to pick it up but it has been really difficult.

“People thought it was a joke and a gimmick but it was exciting when La Popote took me on.

“What I have done is put together a quality range of interesting water.

“It is a selection showing off the different TDS water has to offer.”

As a non-drinker, Doran hopes the water menu willl elevate the dining experience for customers.

And there are still hopes to grown and expand the menu in the future.