First Lady's visit was "a dream come true," the restaurant says as it announces the outing on Twitter... *UPDATE, Sunday, July 16: Visit causes "mayhem"
>Update is in middle of post, below
First Lady Michelle Obama celebrated a friend's birthday at DC's Eatonville Restaurant on Thursday night. The Southern-style eatery, located at the corner of 14th and V streets in Northwest Washington, alerted the world via the blurry photo on Twitter, above, writing “It was a dream come true and an honor to have Michelle Obama here at Eatonville tonight for dinner.” NBC Washington was on hand by the time Mrs. Obama, who had five dining companions, emerged from her culinary adventure. They took video of the great escape (below). The First Lady, clad casually in a sleeveless shirt with a geometric print and dark slacks, got cheers from the crowd gathered outside Eatonville as she left, and she waved.
"Just realized that the booth #MichelleObama sat at last night was the same booth Stevie Wonder sat at when he visited last year!" Eatonville tweeted today.
Eatonville also today tweeted a message to President Obama, through his @BarackObama account: "Please extend our thanks to Michelle for visiting us last night for dinner. She and her friends were the sweetest as could be!"
But the eatery didn't tweet what, exactly, Mrs. Obama ate. The First Lady requested that the eatery not discuss her visit, an unnamed Eatonville spokesman told NBC Washington during a follow-up report that aired during Friday news casts.
"Ooooh, well she asked us not to say what she ate," the Eatonville employee said to her interviewer, on camera, when queried.
Eatonville's menu is here; the owner is Andy Shallal, and the executive chef is Garret Fleming. There's a focus on local sourcing, and the menu is creative interpretations of Southern comfort food: Fried chicken, ribs, catfish, Gumbo, crab cakes, cider-braised collard greens, mac and cheese with sharp cheddar, buttermilk biscuits and cornbread. There are daily specials.
UPDATE, Sunday, July 16: The mandate to not discuss what, exactly, Mrs. Obama ate during her visit was out the window by Saturday night. When ObFo showed up for dinner at Eatonville late in the evening, and asked what Mrs. Obama had dined on, multiple members of the serving staff--including the waiter who had served Mrs. Obama and her party--said the First Lady ordered the Pecan-crusted Trout entree, which is accompanied by Citrus Spinach with Riesling Raisins, Spicy Pilaf and Mustard Velouté. ObFo ordered Mrs. Obama's entree, of course. (Above: The plate as presented on Saturday night)
The trout was perfectly cooked, succulent and tender inside the pecan crust, and the raisins added a sweet pop to the spinach, which also had shallots in it. The pilaf was very, very spicy, about an eight on a scale of 1 to 10, when ten will cause mouth damage. The mustard velouté was nowhere evident on the plate. The entree is priced at $18.
Mrs. Obama ordered no dessert, ObFo was told, though her pal celebrating the birthday ordered the Bread Pudding. Employees on Saturday were discussing Mrs. Obama's visit, they said, because so very many people had been asking about it.
"Mayhem"...and no reservations...
The scene as Mrs. Obama dined with her party, accompanied by 12-15 Secret Service, was "mayhem," one employee noted, adding that everyone was, however, thrilled. Mrs. Obama showed up without having made a reservation, according to another employee. The table she sat at is tucked into a corner of the restaurant, which has one large, open dining room beneath a soaring ceiling. The rest of the patrons carried on with their own dinners, and there was reportedly intense pressure on kitchen and serving staff to give Mrs. Obama and her party a perfect dining experience. They succeeded, if Mrs. Obama's smile in the photo at the top of the post is any indication.
Associate Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor dined at Eatonville last year, one employee told ObFo, but Mrs. Obama's visit is a standout in the history of the restaurant, which opened in 2009.
*End update
So far, no media entity has tried to calculate the calories for the outing, as happened with Mrs. Obama's burger run to DC's Shake Shack earlier this week. Apparently if Mrs. Obama is not enjoying a burger, shake and French fries, she gets a free pass to actually dine in peace, without screaming headlines.
During an interview on Thursday, President Obama told NBC News4 that his wife has enjoyed exploring their second hometown.
"Michelle and the girls have fully embraced Washington, because they can get out of the bubble a little more easily than I do," President Obama said. "If I go someplace, everybody's got to get magged and patted down, so I'm pretty disruptive."
The Eatery is named for the hometown of African American writer Zora Neale Hurston. (Above: Mrs. Obama waves as she leaves the eatery)
Info: Eatonville is at 2121 14th Street NW, Washington, DC, 2009. Phone: 202-332-ZORA (9672).
*Top photo by Eatonville; second by Eddie Gehman Kohan/Obama Foodorama; video & screengrab from NBC Washington
"Michelle and the girls have fully embraced Washington, because they can get out of the bubble a little more easily than I do," President Obama said. "If I go someplace, everybody's got to get magged and patted down, so I'm pretty disruptive."
The Eatery is named for the hometown of African American writer Zora Neale Hurston. (Above: Mrs. Obama waves as she leaves the eatery)Info: Eatonville is at 2121 14th Street NW, Washington, DC, 2009. Phone: 202-332-ZORA (9672).
*Top photo by Eatonville; second by Eddie Gehman Kohan/Obama Foodorama; video & screengrab from NBC Washington
