The Key Ingredient? Mountain Valley Spring Water

By: The Local Palate

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Sourced directly from the Ouachita Mountains, Mountain Valley Spring Water aligns perfectly with chef William Dissen’s sustainable kitchen practices.

Before becoming a respected member of the culinary community, William Dissen honed his cooking skills by working with local ingredients found around his home in the Appalachian Mountains. He discovered a love for cooking along with a fascination with the way different seasonal ingredients influenced what he cooked throughout the year. This laid the foundation that now guides his collection of North Carolina restaurants: The Market Place, Haymaker, and Billy D’s Fried Chicken.

Beyond thoughtfully sourcing ingredients from sustainable and regional purveyors, Dissen’s philosophy guides the water that appears in his restaurants—both on guests’ tables and in his recipes.

Mountain Valley Spring Water’s practice of bottling single-source, spring water closely aligns with Dissen’s own mission. The water—complete with a balanced pH, sharp minerality, and (if sparkling) a storm of tiny bubbles swirly through the green glass bottles—is one of Dissen’s preferred refreshments, not to mention his secret ingredient to achieve light and airy batters in dishes. He shares with TLP what sets Mountain Valley Spring Water apart to him, both as a chef and consumer.

Chef’s Choice: Mountain Valley Spring Water

What about the Mountain Valley Spring Water brand resonates with your own philosophy as a chef and restaurateur? In other words, what drew you to it?

I love that it is delicious, natural spring water direct from the source in Arkansas. It resonates with me because we create our restaurant menus from locally sourced and sustainable ingredients, and we look to always have the highest quality ingredients on our menus. I love the clean, mineral flavor of the spring water and the small bubbles in the sparkling water. It’s the best of the best!

You make a point of working with regional and sustainable producers and purveyors at your restaurants, the Market Place, Haymaker Restaurant, and Billy D’s Fried Chicken. So often, this just pertains to food ingredients. Why is it important to extend these practices to water, as well?

Food, as well as water, is a natural resource. It’s our job as eaters (and drinkers) to vote with our forks, as well as our cups, and to take the time to be more thoughtful about how we eat, where our food comes from and why it’s important to know how our ingredients are produced.

Ensuring that we use sustainable ingredients allow us to know that we will be able to continue to use the products for years to come and that we are being good stewards to our neighbors and to Mother Earth.

How do you use Mountain Valley Spring Water at your restaurants?

We serve Mountain Valley Spring Water on our beverage menus at our restaurants. We also use it in recipes [below] and at the bar in our cocktail menus.

Okay, personal preference—between sparkling and still, natural or flavored, what is your favorite type of MVSW?

I drink the still MVSW every day, but I also love the Blackberry Pomegranate Sparkling Water. You can’t go wrong with any of their flavors!