Confessions of a Coke addict: why I need the real thing, even when eating at a high-end restaurant
- Some drink the sugary beverage for energy from the caffeine kick, others like the taste, but I have another use for it
- I drink Coke when I have eaten too much salt, oil or meat, and to regain my appetite, even in the fanciest of restaurants
I have a confession to make. I am a Coke addict.
Of course, it has the be The Real Thing: Coca-Cola, not Pepsi, or even worse, some generic brand. My favourite cola comes in those little green-tinted glass bottles (if you serve this in your restaurant, please don’t decant it into a glass – you lose the extra fizz that makes this one so appealing).
My least favourite is the fountain-drinks mixture that comes out of a nozzle – very rarely is it as carbonated as it should be. My Coke has to be classic Coke – not low-cal, zero-cal or less caffeine. And vanilla Coke and cherry Coke are abominations.
Occasionally, I get the Coke craving at work – always in the afternoon, when I’m in need of a pick-me-up.
More often, I need a Coke at restaurants. Like smokers who crave cigarettes only when they are drinking, partying or staying out too late, I need a Coke when I’ve consumed too much salt, meat or oil, am having very spicy food, and especially when I’ve overeaten. Drinking Coke helps me eat more, although some of my friends say it has the opposite effect on them.
I had finished a large lunch a few hours before, and needed to make room in my stomach for the Haus tasting menu.
The Coke experience I am most embarrassed about was at Azurmendi, near Bilbao, Spain, a city I was visiting for the World’s 50 Best Restaurant awards in 2018. Normally, sheer pride would prevent me from ordering Coke in a three-Michelin-star restaurant. But I had taken a 13-hour flight from Hong Kong to Madrid, where I had a two-hour layover in the airport before flying on to Bilbao.
I arrived, dropped off my bags at the hotel, then went straight to Mina restaurant for a 2pm lunch (early, by Spanish standards). I finished lunch at around 5pm, then spent a few hours sightseeing before my 8.30pm (very early, by Spanish standards) solo dinner at Azurmendi.
Midway through the meal, I hit a wall – jet lag plus the enormous lunch were making me feel exhausted. I said I needed a short break, and after 30 minutes passed without regaining my appetite, asked for a Coke, almost whispering my request. Thank goodness they had it – it meant that I wasn’t the first person who had asked for it.
It revived my appetite so that I could eat a few more courses, although not enough that I could finish the delicious but extensive menu. I apologised to chef Eneko Atxa and the servers, then went back to the hotel for a hot bath and early bedtime.
People who don’t know me well are appalled the first time they see me ordering a Coke – they say in disbelief: “YOU drink COKE?” They think it’s not very “gourmet”, and therefore not anything that a food editor should consume. Do they think I drink grand cru Burgundies at every meal? Even if I wanted to (and I don’t), I couldn’t afford it.
Fine champagne, tulips and radishes are the perfect match
Occasionally, someone at the dining table will tease me, asking if I prefer Coke to the bottle of expensive vintage wine they’ve brought. I don’t – I think the two can coexist happily, although not in the same glass. But far more often, after I’ve ordered a Coke, at least one more person will casually say, “Oh, I’ll have one, too”. Sometimes they go even further – and less “gourmet” – and order a Coke Lite.
Did my order suddenly awaken their cravings? Or did they actually want a Coke all along, but were too embarrassed to order it? If so, my ordering it first liberated their urges, and they felt free to have a Coke for themselves.
It’s a good thing my addiction isn’t for anything serious.
