A Meal Fit for McCain, Hill, Barack or Even…You!

As the nation tuned in tonight to watch the results of Super Tuesday pour in, a small group of journalists got a taste of what the next president might be eating when he or she stays in New York. The Presidential Suite of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, the New York home away from home for every sitting president since Herbert Hoover, is a surprisingly compact (2,000-square-foot) habitation thirty-five stories above Park Avenue. For the past twenty-three years, when the time has come for a meal in the Presidential Suite, the commanders-in-chief have called upon John Doherty, the hotel's executive chef. In other words, Doherty has cooked for presidents Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush #2. And now, he'll cook for you (and your good friends), too. What does it take to sup like the president does? Book the Presidential Suite (cost, from $7,000 to $10,000 per night, depending on length of stay) and for $330 per plate, you, too, can dine on seared scallops with potato-chive mousseline (as Bill Clinton did in 2000); poached turbot with champagne-caviar sauce (as Ronald Reagan did in 1985); roast rack of lamb with saffron potatoes, candied eggplant and pickled onion (as George H.W. Bush did in 1992); and the so-called Chocolate Extravaganza (which George W. Bush tucked into in 2007). See dishes below. Designed to resemble the décor in the big house on Pennsylvania Avenue, the accommodations in the Presidential Suite contain artifacts including a rocker bequeathed by John F. Kennedy (which yours truly tried out, see below)and crystal sconces provided by Richard Nixon. Although Doherty swears he never fielded any outrageous culinary requests from residents of the Oval Office, he admitted that his least challenging meals were the "pasta and vegetables" so favored by Bill Clinton. The only MENU no-no's were super-rich foods during the Reagan years (the Gipper suffered from diverticulitis) and of course, broccoli, which was verboten during the tenure of Bush #1. %%showphotos [setid=72157603859709085]%%

Will George Bush Join the “Club”?

In 1975, when New York was at its economic nadir, a famed headline in the New York Daily News proclaimed, "Ford to City: Drop Dead." Although Gerald Ford never uttered those words, his refusal to bail Gotham out of its fiscal woes certainly made for a juicy headline. (Even funnier, in retrospect, is the secondary headline on that front page: "Stocks Skid, Dow Down 12." Twelve whole points? Call my broker! Say what you want about Ford's snub of New York. At least he knew a Manhattan institution when he saw one. He, along with every sitting U.S. president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt visited the city's most beloved speakeasy, the '21' Club, while in office. Heck, Nixon even has a few bottles of vino still in storage in the eatery's wine cellar. Sadly, the unbroken string of presidential visits now looks to be in jeopardy. Despite repeated entreaties from the '21' Club's general manager, Bryan McGuire, and its ever-gracious director of public relations, Diana Biederman, the forty-third president has yet to grace the jockey-adorned townhouse on West 52nd Street with his presence. In a story that first appeared last week in the New York Sun, reporter Robert Simonson quotes Bruce Snyder, former manager of the restaurant, as saying that he, too, invited the president to come by, but was told by the president's aides, "He doesn't like to go out to dinner." Interestingly, the First Lady is on record as having said that '21' is her favorite restaurant in New York. The First Daughters, Barbara and Jenna, have also been to '21' (no word on whether Jenna attempted to score a drink prior to actually hitting the age of 21). This would not be the first time "W" has ruined the record books for followers of all things commander-in-chief. A few years ago, I had the great pleasure of meeting and befriending the photographer Arnold Newman, a man who had taken portraits of every U.S. president since Harry Truman. George W. Bush, not so much. Newman speculated to me that Bush the Elder must not have liked his photo and therefore, convinced his son to take a pass. Regrettably, the famed lensman died in 2006, and Junior missed his opportunity to sit for an amazingly talented man. The nation's chief exec has a little more than a year in office and presumably, will make at least a few more visits to Manhattan before he vacates the White House. A word to the wise: Mr. President, as you attempt to burnish your legacy with a new Mideast peace initiative, it might be a whole lot easier to remedy this situation. And though you're a teetotaler, make sure to pay a visit to the restaurant's hidden wine cellar. %%showphotos [setid=72157603324173375]%%