walkinaround

yeah, i'm also more sophisticated than all those people who drink coffee with dinner. so please make sure i get on the list of foderites who know that you are SUPPOSED to drink coffee AFTER dinner. i don't want to be mistaken for one of those other people.

i also don't drink coke with dinner so put me on that list too (in case i was missed on the other thread) thank you.

Underhill

If you really must have coffee with your meal, just ask for it when the waiter asks what you want to drink. It may take a bit of explaining, but you will get it eventually.

As for coffee with milk in the afternoon, just request a café crème. It's pretty much the same thing, and people order it all day.

djkbooks

Except for the best/fanciest restaurants, we've never had a problem having coffee served with the meal.

At more formal restaurants, you can ask and they will acknowledge, but your coffee just will not be served until after your meal, dessert also if you are having it, no matter what. They just stick to traditional service. Once we really wanted our coffee along with a terrific chocolate dessert, but despite a few requests, it was not delivered until the dessert plates were cleared.

This last trip, I stopped ordering coffee in restaurants, however, because the coffee is pricey and just not very good - certainly not "American Coffee". Perhaps restaurants used to serving only espresso following the meal are just not adept at cafe creme...

It's best to figure out before leaving home or quickly upon arrival how to order the type of coffee you prefer in French - cafe au lait, cafe creme, grand creme, etc... If you order "American Coffee", you'll receive watered down coffee (not very good in my opinion).

The coffee is far better in cafes or at Starbucks, if that's what you're used to.

I had heard and read that ordering coffee with cream after breakfast could be a problem, but this has never been a problem for us.

Even so, unless it's a really chilly day and we haven't had coffee for a few hours, we no longer order it in restaurants with a meal.

On our first trip to Europe, we were horrified, at first, at the coffee, but got hooked immediately on espresso (with cream) and make that at home now.

RufusTFirefly

I don't drink coffee with a meal, unless it's a big breakfast.

But a strong cup of coffee goes very well with cakes/pastries and similar desserts (though not with ice cream IMHO).

And tiramisu with a double espresso is divine.

MaureenB

Christina, I totally agree with your point that it might be a Midwestern U.S. habit of drinking coffee during the meal. I grew up in the Midwest, and most adults would order their meal with coffee. Sounds gross to me, too, but it's very common, at least with the older generation in the Midwest. But, hey, if that's what you like, don't be intimidated.

Carrybean

I don't drink coffee, period. I'm also glad I don't with all these rules & regulations. And horror of horrors. I don't drink anything alcoholic & don't like water! I know, I'm just a heathen but have never had stale rolls thrown at me by irate waiters.

kswl

Sometimes, if I'm really tired or need a pick-me-up, I will drink coffee with a meal. I just tell waiters that I want coffee <i>with the meal,</i> and don't concern myself with their reaction or opinion. It would never occur to me that they should have an opinion about <i>my</i> meal.

After a very short while all the food you ingest at a meal is the same temperature in your stomach. Drinking cold beverages with melted cheese may have some effect on the state of the cheese but it is transitory. If you have trouble digesting the cheese it is not due to your beverage, blackduff.

KT

For some reason, this reminds me of a friend's mother who insists that drinking water with a meal causes cancer. I'm not quite clear on how that's supposed to work, but nobody in her family will do it. (Of course, both of the parents are alcoholics--maybe that has something to do with why water is disfavored.)

It also reminds me of an Italian friend who couldn't believe that I would drink fresh fruit juice for breakfast--far too acid, according to her. I've never had a problem with it, but she's sure it's disgusting and unhealthful.

I also knew somebody who thought drinking milk after a meal with tomato sauce would cause the milk to curdle and get you sick.

Everything is disgusting to somebody.

kswl

KT, I had some older friends who have passed away now and they believed that, too. Apparently someone wrote a book in the late 70's or early 80's that outlined this premise so plausibly that lots of people just stopped drinking any beverages with their meals and up to a few hours afterwards. I'm sorry to say the theory didn't work, at least in the case of one of my friends.

blackduff

<i>After a very short while all the food you ingest at a meal is the same temperature in your stomach. Drinking cold beverages with melted cheese may have some effect on the state of the cheese but it is transitory. If you have trouble digesting the cheese it is not due to your beverage, blackduff.</i>

It can't be wrong for thirty million Swiss from many years experience. Although I like the Fendant wine, I have learned about mixing this with the cheese fondues. As a word, constipation!

Blackduff

LoveItaly

From the time I was a child I heard from Italians that one should never ever drink milk when having pasta with tomato sauce as that would cause bad stomach problems.

All of my friends in Italy think it is strange and not good that I enjoy orange juice in the morning..to acidy in their opinion.

They also mostly believe that anything too cold (ice in water for example) is not good for the digestive system.

They think we in the US either have food and beverages to hot or too cold, that more or less room temperture is the proper way to eat food.

All a matter of custom in my opinion. So far I am alive, lol.

sheila

Hey, I do what I want.

As it happens, I would ver WANT to drink coffee with any meal but breakfast, but if I did, I'd expect to get it.

I did once ask for my coffee with my cheese in a very nice brasserie in Viella and they guy told me it was bad for me, and didn't bring it till fater, but it was by way of a lighthearted cultural exchange, so I didn't deck him!!

Dukey

Re the earlier post: IMO, nothing screams &quot;foreigner&quot; louder than someone desperately trying not to look like one.

Ackislander

You may expect to get coffee with your meal when you order it, but you may not.

We warned a friend about this when we traveled to Paris. He specifically asked the waiter for his coffee WITH his dessert. The waiter said &quot;Oui.&quot;

He reminded the waiter. The waiter said, &quot;Oui.&quot; Dessert arrived. He reminded the waiter again. Again, &quot;Oui.&quot; His coffee arrived when ours did, after dessert.

You can't necessarily have it your way in France, and thank god for it! If every place was alike, you might as well stay home!

MissPrism

Isn't part of the fun seeing the differences when you are abroad?
When in Rome...

kswl

blackduff, your intestinal difficulties may arise from an unfortunate combination of that particular wine and the cheese when the two compounds are mixed, not from their temperatures. If we ever finish our wine cellar (brick floor problems now) I will make fondue, and serve the wine at room temperature as an experiment. On all my &quot;wine sites&quot; Fendant seems to be recommended especially as an accompaniment to fondue, probably because they're made in the same country.

beaupeep

Yup, we all drink fendant with our fondue here in Suisse Romande, and blackduff, I've never had any problem with &quot;cheese balls&quot; stopping me up! Plus the fendant is lots more fun than tea - quelle bore!

Josser

It would be a bit like asking for vegetables to be plonked on the plate with your meat.
If you are in France, enjoy the experience of eating the way the locals do.
BTW, it is also the custom to have coffee after the meal in England unless you are in a greasy spoon.
I must say that I get impatient with the idea that if you are paying for something that you are entitled to behave like an oik.

Neopolitan

Comeon, Josser (and others). There's a big difference between sitting at a table and eating a creme brulee with your fingers and ordering a coffee to drink with a meal because you LIKE it that way. Or asking that they leave the cheese off a pizza. Or asking that your Florentine steak be cooked through, because the sight of blood might make you sick. If a restaurant cares about pleasing their customers (and any GOOD restaurant anywhere in the world should care about that), then they will not be upset, nor should you, at the thought of catering to a person's personal tastes.

I'm easy going, and must admit I like eating like the locals in most cases -- whatever surprises that may bring. But the idea that a person is to have a horrible meal that he doesn't like because of his own tastes not being the same as the locals is absurd. In fact I think it's just as absurd when in a fine restaurant a person who likes a lot of salt asks for a salt shaker and is told, &quot;we don't allow that. The chef has seasoned the food the way it should be.&quot; Anyone who fails to realize that different people have different tastes should not be in the restaurant business. Period.

Neopolitan

Oh, and what I failed to mention is that the idea that all people of a certain place eat things a certain way is ridiculous. I have seen many Parisians drink coke or beer instead of wine with a fine meal. I have seen Italians share a pasta or skip the main course, or even (gasp) order a cappucino after dinner! I even talked with a native of Montepulciano who always asks for and gets her Florentine steak well done because that's the way she likes it.