Bill Gates Turned Down A $300 Michelin Tasting Menu For A Diet Coke
Extravagant food is one of the signifiers of wealth, so try and think about what the one percent might eat every day. Chances are, your mind will conjure up images of decadent foie gras served atop a fruity syrup, bowls of caviar placed amid crushed ice, and exquisite wines. Throw a wagyu steak in there for good measure.
The rich can certainly afford all the fancy food they want, but some are known for their unexpected choices when it comes to their diet. Steve Jobs was known for his infamous fruitarian diet. Warren Buffet is known to eat "like a six-year-old" and doesn't shy away from eating ice creams, junk food, and sodas. Another eccentric billionaire eater on the list is Bill Gates, who loves to eat cheeseburgers for lunch.
"If you get the lunchtime slot with Bill, you're eating burgers. Someone will always be sent to get bags of McDonald's," Gates Foundations' managing director Joe Cerrell told The Telegraph. Gates is also an avid drinker of Diet Coke. Cerrell also shared that Gates' hotel room would be full of soda while on tour.
Gates once shared that the amount of Diet Coke he consumes per year generates 35 pounds of aluminum. "Once I'm at the office, I usually open a can of Diet Coke. Over the course of the day I might drink three or four," he shared in his blog GatesNotes in 2014. The billionaire is evidently so fond of the fizzy drink that he would choose it over any food, even fancy restaurant meals.
Bill Gates booked an entire restaurant just to order a Diet Coke
Jordi Cruz, the owner of ABaC Restaurant in Barcelona, will likely never forget the time when Bill Gates and his team booked out his Michelin-starred restaurant. In an interview with Jesús Calleja for his online show "Planeta Celleja," the Spanish chef shared how the billionaire shocked him with his order when he booked out his restaurant.
Apparently, Gates and his team had booked out ABaC for two days during their visit. Chef Cruz and his team prepared an exquisite meal for them, but to his shock, Gates left without trying a single item on the menu. "We had prepared the best and biggest for him and his team. And do you know what Bill did? He ordered a Diet Coke and went back to his plane," he recalled (via Newsweek).
Meanwhile, Gates' team did enjoy the food Cruz and his team had served to them. The $313 tasting menu included delicacies like guineafowl flame-roasted with corn, caviar, and foie gras.
Gates isn't the only billionaire with a penchant for Diet Coke. Elon Musk and Warren Buffet also like to drink the diet soda. Guess it's a billionaire thing, eh?