An Aspiring Michelin-Star Restaurant Serves a €6 Bottle of Coca-Cola in Paris
Parisian restaurants are renown for offering a luxurious culinary experience. Naturally, on my weekend in Paris, I indulged on frog legs, escargot, foie gras, and other French classics. But in the end, it was a €6 drink at an aspiring Michelin-star restaurant that pleased my discerning and sophisticated palate.
Exhausted after my visit to the Louvre and in search of refreshment, I wandered into a restaurant offering haute refection. Instead of enjoying the aesthetic panorama offered by my patio seating, I waited in restless anticipation for the beverage that I had ordered. After what I am sure must have been a taxing fifteen minutes of meticulous preparation for the chef, my waiter brought out my drink.
He gently placed a Baccarat crystal glass on the fine Le Jacquard Francais tablecloth and proceeded to pour out the contents from a pitcher. As the caramel-colored liquid trickled into my glass, the most perfectly round bubbles of carbon dioxide formed and rose up to the top, offering a spectacular visual that rivaled the fireworks displays on New Year’s. To top it all off, the server attached a yellow slice of lemon to the rim of the glass, demonstrating why food critics were raving about the restaurant’s creative presentation techniques.
My extensive knowledge of fine dining led me to question why the chef did not use ice cubes to enhance the taste of the drink. Amazingly, I found out that the chef used an overnight process known as réfrigération as a substitution for them. This proactive and time-consuming effort undertaken in the kitchen exemplified how driven the chef was to earn a Michelin star.
It was all uphill from there. As soon as the waiter found out that I was not ordering anything else, I was offered the exclusive experience of getting escorted out of the restaurant. Only a culinary expert like myself was able to grasp the true brilliance of this episode. By preventing me from finishing my beverage, the chef had skillfully demonstrated his take on portioning.
