Trying to be more environmentally friendly, some restaurants are creating a new trend by eschewing bottled waters, installing water filtration systems and creating their own flavor-infused waters. As reported by Nations Restaurant News, restaurateurs on both coasts are creating tempting water options for demanding patrons. Here are some examples of what you can expect as the trend spreads nationwide:

– Broadway East, opening next month in New York City, will have no bottled water whatsoever for sale. A comprehensive filtering system will filter the city water the moment it enters the building. Guests can have the filtered still water in a carafe for free, and house-carbonated water for $3 per liter.

– At Coi restaurant in San Francisco, hydrosol, a by-product of essential oil production, is used to create exotic flavored waters. Added to glasses of still or sparkling water by the dropperful, it creates flavors such as chrysanthemum, lime, passionfruit and rose, which complement the restaurant’s cuisine.

– District restaurant, in New York City’s theater district, has a water-filtering system that fills reusable bottles with still or sparkling filtered water (at a $5 per bottle charge). The chef prepares seasonal flavors by making fruit purées and straining out the pulp to produce a clear liquid. Winter flavors planned include cucumber and lemon grass, plum and fresh ginger, and yuzu.

– At Graffiti, another new restaurant in Manhattan, the fenugreek water is evocative of the owner’s Bombay childhood. Fenugreek seeds are soaked in water overnight to infused the water. Recent studies have suggested that fenugreek is useful in lowering blood cholesterol and in helping to control diabetes.

Read more about water—and some of our favorite bottled brands—in the Water Section of THE NIBBLE online magazine.

Still looking for something special to serve for Thanksgiving dessert that’s not the traditional pie? Do you like beer, ice cream and chocolate?

Then here’s an option that requires absolutely no cooking, courtesy of The Chocolate Room of Brooklyn: a Chocolate Stout Float.

All you need to do is purchase chocolate ice cream and chocolate stout. The Chocolate Room uses Brooklyn Lager’s chocolate stout, but microbrewers nationwide make them in the fall and winter.
 
RECIPE: STOUT FLOAT

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. POUR the stout into a brandy snifter, wine goblet or other glass of choice, and add the ice cream.

2. ADD optional ice cream and serve with a spoon. It’s that easy—and it’s a winner!

Chocolate Stout Float: pour chocolate stout,scoop ice cream and enjoy (photo courtesy Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board).

Thanks to The Chocolate Room in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn, New York. It’s easy to get to by subway.

The dessert café, which specializes in desserts with wine and beer pairings, is open from noon to 11 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday (to midnight Friday and Saturday). They also sell fine chocolates.