15 Industry Professionals Share Their Hangover Cures

New Year's Eve is not known as a holiday of restraint. The Champagne starts flowing long before the ball drops and continues long after. We spoke to 15 industry professionals about how they make it through the day after.

You're welcome.

 

Magic Elixirs

"Nutritional yeast is my go-to hangover cure. You can buy it at Whole Foods and it looks like this weird, yellowish brown flaky powder. You're supposed to take it and sprinkle it on your popcorn, because it has this kind of Parmesan flavor. But it's loaded with B vitamins, so after a night of indulging, you just take a big spoonful of nutritional yeast and try to swallow it and then chase it with a glass of water."

– David Osenbach, wine director at Providence in Los Angeles

"My best hangover cure is a shot of ginger juice and a BC powder. The BC powder is the best — it tastes terrible but has four times the amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee, plus a couple of headache medications. It gives you the jolt you need to get going."

– Bill Brooks, beverage director at The Cannibal Liquor House in New York City

"The first [hangover cure] is 0.3 gram magnesium chloride, which is found in the Asian section of the grocery store under the name "nigari" — used for making tofu. For those who don't have a scale that precise, weigh out a gram in a pint glass, fill the pint glass, then split the water into three equal portions and top each one off — boom, now you have three hangover cures. That said, a full gram of magnesium chloride can be dangerous, so measure carefully!

"The second [hangover cure] is one teaspoon salt and two pints of water. Dissolve the salts in a pint of water (or if you had to do the split-in-three thing, just add a teaspoon of table salt to the diluted pint), gulp it down, then gulp down another pint of just water to chase.  Usually sets me straight in about 30 minutes."

– Mark Guillaudeu, manager and sommelier at Roka Akor in San Francisco

 

Hair of the Dog

"Being from the San Diego-Baja-Surf background, my best hangover cure has always been a double shot of tequila and a beer... if you don't have anything to do for the rest of the day."

– Josh Renfree, bar manager at BOA Steakhouse in West Hollywood

"The 25 Bloody Mary is a unique blend of 25 ingredients perfectly balanced to revive your spirit and provide a little hair-of-the-dog boost to rejuvenate the body."

– Anamaria Osborne, mixologist and manager at the Argyle Steakhouse in Carlsbad, Calif.

"I drink a coconut water upon waking up, and after that what usually works the best for me is drinking about one ounce of Yellow Chartreuse. The two can't be mixed though. Must be drank separately. I swear, it works every time."

– Trish Gavin, bartender at Tullibee in Minneapolis

Foods

"The acidic, life-giving marinade in all Peruvian ceviche dishes, Leche de Tigre, a well-known hangover cure, is made with fish and/or shellfish stock, fresh citrus, herbs, onion, garlic, and cilantro. In Peru, they eat ceviche for 'brunch' to take advantage of the hangover relief the dish brings, and at Tanta, we add it to our Bloody Mary mix! Sometimes, people will even do a shot of Leche de Tigre after an especially hard night for maximum effect."

– Tomislav Lokvicic, manager at Tanta in Chicago

"I've never really believed in a hangover cure. In my experience it's all about the preparation. After drinking, you should go to Sun Nong Dan in Koreatown with some friends and have the galbi jjim. It's gooey, meaty, sizzling, and amazing and it will make your belly so happy. When you get home, right before bed, eat a banana and chug a bottle of water. You'll never have a hangover again."

– Darwin Pornel, lead bartender at Faith and Flower in Los Angeles

"A grilled cheese with avocado and bacon accompanied by coconut water, for its hydrating properties and ability to soak up any New Year's Eve excesses."

– Paris Fallet from the Green Dragon Tavern in Carlsbad, Calif.

"My go-to hangover cure is a large mineral water, two Advil, a No. 1 combo from McDonald's (which is the Egg McMuffin with hash browns) and some strong coffee — in that order!"

– Dee Ann Quinones, head bartender at Westbound in Los Angeles

"The best hangover fixers are comfort foods with a Southern twist such as buttermilk biscuits with chipotle maple syrup and pimento cheese or a burger with pimento cheese, chili, and pickled cabbage, washed down with an authentic Mexican Sprite."

– Scott Howard, chef at Citizen Restaurant in Beverly Hills 

"Pickle juice and a fried bologna sandwich with an egg — it's not on the menu at The Peninsula, but I've been known to make it for one of our regular guests!"

– David Codney, executive chef at the Peninsula Hotel Beverly Hills

"I swear by Chinese food (the more MSG the better) the next morning. My go-tos are hot and sour soup and sesame chicken."

– Nick Digiovanni, head bartender at Público in St. Louis

 

Healthy Smoothies

"If you wake up feeling pretty sorry for yourself, make a Green Drink Smoothie. It's packed full of veggies and fruit and will get you going in the right direction."

– Mike Stevenson, head brewer at Culver Beer Company in Carlsbad, Calif.

"Either a Ponto Greens smoothie, made fresh with green apples, spinach, avocados, kale, and coconut water, or the Healer smoothie, which includes ginger, hemp, flaxseed, peach, and turmeric. The best hangover cure is to fill yourself up with healthy goodness!"

– Jillian Holmes, head bartender at Cape Rey's Chandler's in Carlsbad, Calif.