On a hot July afternoon, Martin Riese sits in a suit at one of the patio tables at Ray’s and Stark with eight bottles of water and 16 glasses in front of him. He laughs as museum goers pause in front of his table to smirk or make a comment about the odd man with all that water.
[snip]
Reise is the water sommelier — yes, there is such a thing — for the Patina Group of Retaurants. He’s launching a water menu Monday at Ray’s and Stark, the restaurant at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where he is also the general manager. Some of the bottles will be priced as high as $20.
Holy hell. The United States has the best freaking public water system in the world, and this dude is calling himself a “water sommelier” and selling water (WATER!!!) to people with no sense and too much money.
Although, I suppose, it’s better to waste money on this foolishness than a Faberge egg addiction.