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More Dish On Obamas' NYC Date Night
By
John Del Signore
Published Jun 1, 2009
Modified Jun 1, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jun 1, 2009
Modified Jun 1, 2009
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Sure, you probably know by now that the First Couple dined at locally-sourced Greenwich Village restaurant Blue Hill on Saturday night, but there are still lots of juicy details to pore over! Like the wine: a 2007 Hirsch Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, according to Eater. Besides the vino, the First Lady was also observed knocking back two martinis! (It's unclear if she had any of the Pinot.)
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.
Tagged
blue hill
dinner
Michelle obama
obama
president
restaurant
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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