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We're standing by on details regarding what they ate, but it's believed they ordered the "Farmer's Feast," a five-course tasting inspired by the week's harvest. The other diners, who had to submit to a Secret Service search before entering the restaurant, somehow maintained their composure during the Obamas' dinner, but one tells the Daily News, "When they stood up to leave, this blasé New York crowd stood up and exploded in spontaneous applause."
Not so impressed is Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni, who thinks it's just so typical for the Obamas to choose Blue Hill: "In the very predictability of this choice, in its all-too-neat squaring with the officially sanctioned food agenda, in its absence of surprise or abandon, isn’t it ever so slightly disappointing? Just a little too pat and controlled?" Or is someone just a little jealous he wasn't consulted on the Obamas' NYC dining decisions?
After dinner, the First Couple attended the critically acclaimed revival of August Wilson's play Joe Turner's Come and Gone, which has been running at just 65% capacity despite the rave reviews. But the Obamas' visit might be a big boon for the production; on Sunday they sold triple the number of tickets sold on the previous Sunday. Martin Jenkins, a tourist from Georgia, tells the Post, "We definitely came to the play because the Obamas saw it." Sigh, if only Passing Strange had been so lucky.
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Frank Bruni is a jerk.
so the diners had to get searched - that makes sense. but what about the kitchen staff? is there a secret service guy in the kitchen making sure the chef doesn't spit in the food... or toss some rat poison in the food?
yes
do you know that or are you just assuming?
I have a close friend in the Treasury Department. A restaurant is picked out several days prior to the day-of-dining. All the workers are given criminal background checks, and monitored 24 hours a day, up until the day/night of the dining, however, they're not told the president is the one coming to dinner. they're told an important person is, this is to prevent press leaks.
The entire premises and surrounding area is checked for weapons, explosives, and people who may present a threat. Their are uniformed and undercover agents all over the area at all times.
The kitchen staff preparing the meal is closely monitored and all staff is monitored while the president is on site.
Also, the entire area on the ground and air is monitored by field agents and snipers. All air traffic is diverted from flying over the area, and from what I believe, cell phones are typically jammed.
This is not an assumption, it's what is done to keep any president, vice president, (anyone in the cabinet) safe.
I have a friend with a restaurant in Guatemala, and a previous president visited a couple of times. It is a very, very small restaurant and my friend cooks and waits the tables, but on those days, they get a waiter (secret service) for free...
Why should anyone care what Frank Bruni thinks about the Obamas choice of restaurant? I mean, really!
someone does care. just 1, and his last name is Bruni.
I can picture the Bushes going to Jeckyll and Hyde or Ninja to eat.
I bet Obama got laid that night.
Frank should be nicer to this administration, considering he got the job as restaurant critic after having his ass tossed out of Washington by the Bush administration.
It sounds like SS dropped the ball...all those noses got up BO's ass somehow.
Glad that all the country's problems are solved and we can criticize what restaurant he and Michelle dined at rather than the fact that they chose this weekend to go on the world's most expensive date on the eve of the nation's most expensive industrial disaster.
It's not THAT expensive. A little too much for me, but average people do these things all the time.
I don't mean the dinner and the play, I mean the half-dozen aircraft, hundreds of security vehicles and thousands of hours in law enforcement overtime that are racked up for any Presidential trip, all on our tab. I don't have a problem with the President traveling, I just object to the timing.
So when was the right time?
So when was the right time?
When the President was going to be in New York as part of his job and the cost of security, travel, etc. would already be justified?
Sounds reasonable.. but is it just moving the goalposts? I could imagine the debate would just move to whether or not the official trip to NYC was 'justified' or if it was just a pretense for date night, etc. etc..
i knew this "how dare he do ANYTHING when the country is falling apart!" comment was coming. yawn
i knew this "how dare he do ANYTHING when the country is falling apart!" comment was coming. yawn
The Obama's do quite well for themselves as far as money they make, OUTSIDE of his presidential salary. At least someone's got the money to fund a nice weekend out in this hurting for revenue era in NY. They could have gone anywhere and spent their money else where. They didn't go out and spend obnoxiously, they went on a date, it's not Obama's fault they have all these security measures, should he just spend the rest of his presidency holed up in the white house? I think not & i'm glad he's coming and enjoying himself & our town. GM dug their own grave, don't blame Obama.
It's not like Obama want to some fancy retreat across the globe.
Who doesn't take their wife or husband to a nice restaurant and see a broadway show afterward? That is what most working class people do once in a while.
right- better he should be golfing on in late summer 2001.
LOL I see what you did there. You were attempting to excuse Obama's actions by bringing up George W. Bush, the previous President, who also did dumb things. Hahaha. Classic.
GM was going to die sometime -- this weekend, next weekend, three months from now. That's no reason for Obama to hunker down in the White House. If cleaning up Bush's mess(es) means the Obamas can't leave Washington, then they will NEVER go anywhere or do anything. Good for them.
PS: Frank Bruni is a tool.
What's the big deal? Obama has no right to be a human because the "taxpayers can't afford it"? And BTW, he only came to a city with a struggling economy and promoted eating out and seeing a decent play. I would be pissed, however, if he took out Air Force One for a lavish junket to Monaco for gambling, whoring and eating at Alain Ducasse's joint.
You equate being "human" with taking a private jet out for dinner and a show? I would have been more impressed if they had gone out for a night on the town in DC - a city that also has economic problems. They could have worked in a night on the town in New York the next time the President had official business in the city like the UN General Assembly meetings. It's not as if Blue Hill is in any danger of closing.
I remember when several former Presidents suggested that people not stay home with their wallets closed. I think they were soundly ridiculed. I wonder what the difference is now. Hmmm. . . what could it be?
PS: I rather like Obama. I just hate seeing logic tortured.
I think he kinda does go out in DC but for now, it's mostly burgers...
I assume when they do go out in DC there won't be as much media attention.
So what would you want him to do? Bicycle to NYC? Take a car to NYC? Hitchhike with his wife? Boo hoo maybe he should have ordered in from McDonald's instead; that will set an example for all Americans to live and eat like resilient rats.
Let's compare administration summer vacations:
One explores a new city, dines on local cuisines, actively works to maintain an intellectual life in the crucible of a presidency.
The other flees to a secure compound for a month at a time, spends entire days mountain biking the same six mile loop and chopping wood.
Again, this is not meant to defend Bush but seriously, do you actually equate "date night" with "summer vacation"? How about we wait until after Labor Day to see what the Obama family does for summer vacation?
Considering that the Obamas have two young daughters and are probably trying not to have them become notorious pubcrawling drunks as young adults, I guarantee their summer plans will be more thought out than reclusing in the Texas outback at every opportunity.
Bush bought the Crawford ranch in 1999 so I fail to see the relevance to the Bush twins seeing as how they didn't go there during their formative years and that they started college the same year Bush was sworn in as President. Perhaps you know more about the vacations the family took in prior years and you would like to share that information with us. And I'm not sure I would equate the known drinking exploits of the twins as "notorious pubcrawling drunks" since it sounds an awful lot like what many college kids do. But if that's what you think you're entitled to your opinion. It's probably for the best that you don't know what Al Gore's oldest daughter was up to during her college days. Add that to Al III's drug fueled 100 MPH speeding arrest and one could conclude that Al and Tipper didn't take the kids on the right sort of vacations.
It is really disconcerting that the knee jerk response for many people whenever someone questions Obama's actions is to bring up one of Bush's questionable actions, even if Bush has nothing even remotely to do with the conversation.
I am trying to discern if that is the result of:
a.) anyone questioning Obama is being automatically branded a Republican Bush-lover/Obama-hater, or
b.) if they simply have no intelligent response but feel some deep desire to defend Obama at all costs, no matter what he is being accused of.
I, for one, voted for Obama and I think he's a great man. That does not mean he is infallible and that he should not be held accountable for his mistakes.
I understand in the grand scheme of things, this dinner date stuff is very minor, but the responses I've gotten to my very calmly worded questioning of the trip's timing, on Gothamist and in other conversations, have been frighteningly vitriolic and more often than not veer into "well at least he's not Bush" territory and calling me names. I am very scared that when he makes a really big booboo, and EVERY president makes at least a few, this blind, angry defense of the man will only enable him.
michelle sure has got some nice stems on her. yowsa!
Word. I'd hit that shit raw
just got "watch-listed" buddy.
i like seeing a president and first lady who actually still seem to be totally into each other. it's a change of pace from everything i've seen since:
1) the reagans (two parts senile, one part anti-dope)
2) the first bushes (grandpa and grandma boring oldster love)
3) the clintons (insert any number of intern, BJ or butch haircut jokes here)
4) the second bushes (where was laura again? hiding away in shame?)
let's hear it for a presidential marriage we can get behind!
Hear, hear! I think by this time in his presidency, W had already logged 110 vacation days or something like that. He was able to do so because Cheney was running the show. Duh! 1 day in NYC for the Obamas is well deserved.
Gin or Vodka martinis?
its actually quite nice of him to come explore the city...its the least he could do after him and george w stole wall street from us and moved it to washington...ya know...the city that isn't corrupt...oh, wait
Who was watching the kids and the dog? Do taxpayers pay for the royal, er ,presidential pooper scoopers?
Silly, everyone knows it was First Mother-in-Law, Marian Robinson (Michelle Obama's mother). Why do you think she moved into the White House?