Organic Water, Sugar-Free

The most exotic bottled water in the country has to be Vermont Nouveau Sapwater, available locally (and seasonally) in Vermont. It’s basically the water that is filtered from maple sap in the making of maple syrup. The Wall Street Journal describes it as having an “earthy” taste, which may be why it’s carbonated and available in raspberry or lemon as well as plain.

Socrates’ Last Meal

Quail are immune to the poison in hemlock, so you could die after eating a wild quail who has fed on it. No kidding. It’s happened in Greece, where they know from hemlock.

Backyard Number Crunch

The stats are in: On July 4, we patriotically used about 3 million gallons of barbecue lighter fluid (not in L.A., of course--not legally, anyway). so, who are “we”? For your info, 3 million gallons equals the amount of rain Seattle gets in a three-year period, and the 1.5 billion charcoal briquettes we used would fill 66 boxcars.

First Floor: Notions, Sundries, Pizza

Wolfgang Puck, chef-owner of Spago and so on, also markets frozen pizzas. So now there is a Wolfgang Puck’s California Pizza counter, selling ‘em hot or frozen, at the Macy’s store in San Francisco.

American Fast Food Conquers the World, Chapter LCXVII

Nathan’s Famous, the hot dog chain based on Coney Island, now has 70 stands around the country and is franchising 70 more. Not only that, another 185 Nathan’s stands are scheduled for Europe, Thailand, Taiwan and Singapore. The country that will run the foreign Nathan’s, a spinoff of a British merchant bank, is named American Fast Foods International.

Semi-Instant Nostalgia

There are 8,576 McDonald’s restaurants in this country, but only one has the original style of rooftop golden arches. It was opened April 24 in Anderson, S.C. An Anderson resident told Nation’s Restaurant News, “They tore down the old one and now they build a new one that looks just like it.”

Introducing the Soupmarine

A New York restaurant named Grand Central Station lists a bouillabaisse sandwich on its menu.