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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] really about local, seasonal food
  • Date: Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:11:35 -0600


Saturday, May 30, 2009
Obama Date Night In New York: Dinner at Chef Dan Barber's Blue Hill, And A
Broadway Play...
http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com/2009/05/obama-date-night-dinner-in-new-yo
rk.html

Yesterday, the world was alerted that the President and First Lady would be
going to New York today for dinner and a Broadway play (at left: the first
Couple leave DC, en route to NY). While the details of what show the First
Couple would attend were "leaked," the restaurant was kept top secret,
until the Obamas actually showed up. When streets started to be closed in
Greenwich Village earlier this evening, and snipers appeared on rooftopss,
local residents figured out pretty rapidly that the Obamas were coming to
their neighborhood. Twitter was awash with speculation, most of which was
correct: The Obamas would be dining at Chef Dan Barber's Blue Hill, on
Washington Place, in an old row house, three steps down and underground, in
what used to be a legendary speakeasy. A huge crowd gathered outside the
restaurant, hoping to see the President and First Lady (above).

It was a pretty easy guess for anyone familiar with the NY restaurant
scene...and with Obama predilections...to figure out where the Obamas were
headed. Barber is the hot chef of the year; on May 4, he won the top honor
of "outstanding American chef 2009" from the James Beard Foundation, the
culi equivalent of winning the Nobel prize, medal and all (in pic). Barber
uses local and sustainably sourced foods to create what he describes as
"American Seasonal" cuisine, and he's considered a pioneer in the
farm-to-table movement. He's a critical fave as well as a favorite among
diners; noted NY Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni gave Blue Hill three
out of four stars; his review is here.

Blue Hill staff declined to comment about what the Obamas ate this evening,
but unless Chef Barber cooked something special off the menu, Ob Fo is
guessing they selected as appetizers the Maine crabmeat with Stone Barns
Focea lettuce and pine nuts with yogurt sorbet, and the Greenhouse Greens
and Herbs with roasted and confit mushrooms, lettuce and mustard
vinaigrette. For entrees: Good bets would be the cauliflower steak with
asparagus, dried fruit and almonds; and the Cobia with "wintered over"
parsnips and asparagus, topped with paddlefish roe. Dessert would be
chocolate bread pudding with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream and
or/the honey crisp apple with saffron cream and honey ice cream...shared,
of course. We'll see, when Barber is interviewed by New York mag's Grub
Street blog later this week. (Above: The dining room at Blue Hill)

Barber was honored by the Beard Foundation for using his New York
restaurants -- Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills --
to "highlight the difference seasonal and sustainable agriculture can make
on the plate." It was the third time Barber had won a Beard medal;
previously he'd been best NY chef, and before that, best new chef. But
Barber is far more than a chef; he's the visionary behind Stone Barns
Center For Food and Agriculture, an 80-acre working farm in the Hudson
Valley, about thirty miles from Manhattan. Stone Barns is a member-driven
collaborative that focuses on advocating and teaching community-based Ag.
Much of the food Barber uses in his restaurants originates there--or is
sourced from other farmers in the Hudson Valley. The beautifully sited farm
is home to classrooms, and plenty of educational farm experiences for
members and visitors, in addition to the restaurant.

Barber is no stranger to the Obamas. On May 5, the day after he won his
Beard medal, he hung out with the First Lady at the Time 100 gala in New
York. "I wouldn’t call us pals, no, but she was great," he told Grub
Street.

Barber was also one of the chefs who signed a congratulatory letter to the
Obamas from Chefs Collaborative, which was delivered to the White House on
Earth Day. Based in New York and run by Executive Director Melissa Kogut,
Chef's Collaborative is the leading nonprofit network of chefs, and fosters
a sustainable food system through advocacy, education and collaboration
with the broader food community. Their thank you letter was initially a
campaign to encourage the Obamas to have a local/sustainable aesthetic in
the White House kitchen, but when it became clear that the Obamas had
already achieved enlightenment in this area (cue Sam Kass), the letter
turned into a thank you campaign. More than 360 chefs and CC members signed
the letter.

Of course, no Obama event is without controversy: the Republican National
Committee decided to put out a press release bashing the NY Date Night;
read the blather here, at the Chicago Sun-Times Lynn Sweet's blog. The
President's response through a WH press associate was, naturally,
excellent:

"I am taking my wife to New York City because I promised her during the
campaign that I would take her to a Broadway show after it was all
finished."

After dinner, the First Couple headed to Broadway to see August Wilson's
Joe Turner's Come and Gone at the Belasco Theatre. Amusingly, one of the
central characters in the play is a fellow who makes cookware for a living.
Times Square was mobbed with crowds hoping to catch site of the President
and First Lady.

*Blue Hill in New York is at Front A, 75 Washington Pl, New York, NY 10011.
Phone: (212) 539-1776.

*During Campaign Season, Dan Barber wrote Change We Can Stomach, an Op Ed
with advice on food policy for then-candidate Obama. *Dan & Fred Dialogue:
A conversation moderated by Tom Philpott with Dan Barber and Ag policy
thinker/farmer Fred Kirschenmann on what the Obamas should do about food
policy is here at Grist. *An interview with Barber, at the James Beard
Foundation, is here.




  • [Livingontheland] really about local, seasonal food, Tradingpost, 06/18/2009

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