Can The Obamas Save DC-area Restaurants?

Poor Barack! Not only does he have the wishes of an entire nation on his sturdy shoulders, from gay rights to education, there seems to be quite a bit of hope that he can kickstart the local restaurant industry as well! According to a recent CNN post, restaurateurs around the nation’s capitol are hoping the Obamas, well known for their date nights, will develop a new following for local diners. Throughout their residency in Chicago, the President and First Lady were often out and about at their favorite haunts. Since their arrival in Washington DC, some chefs, like Equinox’s Todd Gray, are even reporting a surge of reservations and congratulations after a presidential visit.

“They’re creating a huge buzz,” he said. “They’re out dining, They’re out supporting small family businesses, local-run businesses that in the end are the backbone of the American economy. And if that doesn’t give people hope, I don’t know what will.”

Can he do it? We’ll just have to see.

President Obama Adds Sustainable Chef to White House Staff

Posted by Jennifer Heigl

I was thrilled to read in the NY Times yesterday that in addition to keeping White House chef Cristeta Comerford, the First Lady’s spokesperson, Katie McCormick Lelyveld, has confirmed that chef Sam Kass has been appointed to assist in White House meal preparations.

With many notables in the sustainable food community hoping for a more eco-friendly administration, it’s encouraging to see that someone like Kass, who supports local food production and consumption, has been invited into the mix. A native of the Chicago area, and former private chef for the Obamas, Mr. Kass founded Inevitable Table, a private chef service combining food stuffs from local farmers and sustainable wineries in order to provide ‘clean simple quality food.’

You can read chef Alice Waters’s thoughts on the importance of a sustainable White House kitchen here.

Thoughts On Food and Wine for Obama’s Inauguration

Inauguration seems to be the word on everyone’s lips this week. With Obama’s inauguration coming up on Tuesday, foodies across the land are offering their thoughts on presidential food and wine.

Bill Daley of the Chicago Tribune chimes in with wine suggestions for the president-elect. Noting the increase in sales of a South African sparkling wine after the Obamas reportedly imbibed on election night, it seems the public is very interested in possible White House selections. Here here for the support of sustainably produced wines!

The Los Angeles Times had a great in-depth article about the history of inauguration meals. Only President Bill Clinton could have an inaugural dinner described as a “cross between a state dinner at the White House and a traditional Arkansas Raccoon Supper.” Look for three courses at Obama’s dinner and wines from California vineyard Duckhorns.

And in a follow up to one of my earlier posts, it looks like the Obamas will be keeping White House chef Cristeta Comerford. Comerford succeeded Walter Scheib III, kitchen top dog during the Clinton years, becoming the first woman to head the White House kitchen.

The Influence of a President’s Diet

Posted by R.K. Gella

President Bush made a rendezvous back to his Texas Ranch this week to enjoy his holiday break, his final as the president of this country. A month from now President Bush will hand over the keys of the White House to the new family on the block, the Obamas.

Yet, in absence of the Obamas’ expected welcome mat and herd of moving trucks, speculations on President-elect Obama’s administration have indeed begun.

Yesterday, the NY Times ran a piece anxiously dissecting what could be Mr. Obama’s policy on nutrition and food. Those actively working to reform policies concerning food and agriculture are keeping their fingers tightly wrapped that Mr. Obama will demonstrate an understanding and insightfulness that the previous administrations sorely lacked.

“He is the first president who might actually have eaten organic food, or at least eats out at great restaurants,” Ms. Gehman Kohan, of Obamafoodorama.com, said to the NY Times. Spiaggia and Topolobampo, two highly regarded Chicago restaurants have been documented as Obama favorites.

To Mr. Obama’s food savvy and palate refinement, which are debatable to a degree – note he’s not sucking down shakes as a rinse to a Big Mac meal, at least not publicly – there are a few other indicators that he will be an advocate on the side of foodies and nutritionists.

They point out that when Mr. Obama was a child, his family used food stamps and that in interviews he has referred to his appreciation of the philosophy put forth by Michael Pollan, the reform-minded food writer.

What might be most revealing to the direction of the new administration’s outlook on food could remain with Mrs.Obama. In interviews, Michelle Obama has talked about guiding her family’s diet, purchasing organic food and cutting out high-fructose corn syrup. She has also divulged that her family loves bacon. What family doesn’t?

It is apparent that Barrack and Michelle Obama are indeed sensitive to the evolving landscape of food and nutrition. But foodies or not, our food obsessed culture will demand that the Obamas keep in stride with the rest of the country. This is not to say that the Obamas’ refrigerator will have little influence on the rest of the country, it is foreseeable how it will, but perhaps our nations changing perception on food has already had an influence on them.

Support A Sustainable USDA: Obama’s Choice for ‘Secretary of Food’

Posted by Jennifer Heigl

New York Times Op-Ed columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote on Wednesday about President-elect Barack Obama’s upcoming staff pick for Secretary of Agriculture. Kristof, an advocate of smaller family farms vs. industrial, waste-producing farms, chimes in on the importance of picking the right ’secretary of food’ for the country’s future, noting the need for change in our agricultural activities.

The need for change is increasingly obvious, for health, climate and even humanitarian reasons. California voters last month passed a landmark referendum (over the farm lobby’s furious protests) that will require factory farms to give minimum amounts of space to poultry and livestock.

He also quotes author Michael Pollan’s outlook on the US’s agricultural priorities as well.

“We’re subsidizing the least healthy calories in the supermarket — high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated soy oil, and we’re doing very little for farmers trying to grow real food,” notes Michael Pollan, author of such books as “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and “In Defense of Food.”

Help support family farms, reduce the exorbitant amount of money funneled into industrial farms (and the timber industry), and demand a greener, healthier, sustainable farm system in the United States by voicing your opinion about the new Secretary of Agriculture. Kristof suggests visiting Food Democracy Now, where you can sign a petition supporting change in the US’s agricultural plan.

Obama To Mix Things Up In The Kitchen in 2009?

With speculation rampant on the number of changes that will take place within the White House (and ultimately the US) once President-elect Barack Obama takes office in January, some are speculating just how far the change will go. Food blogger Juliette Rossant, of Super Chef, posted this morning about possible changes within the White House kitchen itself. While a changing of the culinary guards doesn’t automatically happen with each administration, it’s possible that the current chef, Christeta Comerford, may be replaced once the Obamas move in to their new digs.

Rossant’s suggestions? Chicago favorites Chef Susy Crofton, of Crofton on Wells; Chef Carrie Nahabedian of NAHA; and Chef Sarah Stegner, of Prairie Grass Cafe.

The New York Daily News recently chimed in with their ideas for a new presidential Executive Chef as well, suggesting Chef Daniel Young, Chef Rick Bayless, and Oprah’s personal chef, Chef Art Smith.

Drinking Your Political Affiliation

At the World Bar located across the street from the United Nations, politics is never an intrusive topic, and in case of a lull in conversation, the bar menu is a fail-safe tool to inoculate discussion.

This voting season has spawned various election themed cocktails, from The Maverick at Sushi Samba Rio to the Obama Rama at the Pink Door in Seattle, where owner Jackie Roberts has used the drink to raise funds for the Obama campaign.  She rejects “the theory that politics and business don’t mix,” stating, “I feel good about standing for something.”

However, at the World Bar, a more egalitarian approach has been devised, giving both candidates representation on their menu.  Senator Obama’s cocktail is blue tinted Mai Tai, while Senator McCain’s takes on a combination of gin, vanilla cognac and grenadine.

For those still on the fence (shame), or who would rather free themselves of touting allegiance in public, Morton’s Steak House offers the Undecided-tini, a combination of their Dixi-tini and Republican-tini.

At Stretch Run Sporting Club and Grille in Chicago, tomorrow’s election can be viewed in one of two rooms with a dedicated menu to each party.  GOP supporters can knock a few 10 Cane Rum Red Martinis back in the red room, while Democrats have the blue room, flowing of Barack on the Rocks Blue Caracao Cocktails.

And although there is no Bob Barr cocktail to announce, at the Hay-Adams hotel across the street from the White House, Libertarians can enjoy a Ron Paul Pisco Punch that is described to be “as edgy and unusual as the fiery Libertarian for whom it’s named.”

Newsbits: Obama, McCain’s Eateries of Choice; Restaurants Extending Hours

• The Chicago Sun-Times takes a look at the eating habits of both Barack Obama and John McCain while on the campaign trail. From pizza to burger to Tex-mex, can you really learn much from a presidential candidate’s food selection? And better yet, will it influence your vote in November?
• According to the New York Times, restaurants across the country are hoping that extending hours and adding additional menus, like happy hour and breakfast, will even out their lagging bottom line. With special events and private parties falling the wayside as quickly as regular customers, will the added hours really make a difference? Or will the cost of additional staff cancel out the income of additional diners?