Obama Invites German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Step into History at Georgetown’s 1789 Restaurant

If one is a world leader, state visits are often a round of the to-be-expected activities ranging from reviewing the troops to sitting through long formal dinners.  German Chancellor Angela Merkel was treated to just such a rare break from tradition during her recent visit to Washington DC when prior to protocol's demands President Barack Obama hosted Merkel at Georgetown’s historic 1789 Restaurant.

Named for the year in which both Georgetown University was founded by the Roman Archbishop John Carroll and the District of Columbia was designated as the future capital of the country, each of the six dining rooms in the Federalist period townhouse are discretely decorated with period antiques and equestrian prints.

Yet while Obama and Merkel relaxed and talked for nearly two hours, it was not the historical décor alone that held their attention.  Certainly a large part of the evening’s charm was the cuisine created by Executive Chef Daniel Giusti and Pastry Chef Mallory Staley.

Chef Giusti was appointed the lead chef at 1789 in 2008 by the Clyde’s Restaurant Group that owns this esteemed property. Though one of the youngest top chefs in D.C., Giusti has been winning national awards with his fresh seasonal fare highlighting the cuisine of America’s many culinary regions.

His interest in all matters kitchen began t 15 years of age and went on to include training at the C.I.A., an internship with acclaimed Chef Charlie Palmer at New York’s Aureole, study in Italy and work as the Chef de Partie at the popular French Restaurant Guy Savoy in Las Vegas's Caesars Palace. With this background and after serving as executive Sous Chef under former 1789 Restaurant Chef Nathan Beauchamp, he was the perfect choice to lead this very popular restaurant into the twentieth­-first century with style and elegance.

Working beside Chef Giusti is another talented culinary professional, Executive Pastry Chef Mallory Staley. Born in historic Frederick, Maryland, Chef Mallory brings an extensive background to her current position including training at the French Culinary Institute, directing dessert creation at NYC Plaza Hotel’s Oak Room and the Hearth Restaurant. 

Soon additional honors from the James Beard Foundation would also be added to her resume. Charged with recreating the best of America’s traditional desserts with a contemporary twist, her new creations are now gleaming praise from diners as the perfect ending to a more than memorable meal at 1789.

Having enjoyed such a feast, it must have been hard for both Obama and Merkel to leave and return to the formal worlds of duty waiting for them at the White House and Blair House, the official residence of presidential guests.

But have no fear, beginning Tuesday, June 7^th at 9 AM the formal pageantry begins with a 19 gun salute and troop review on the White House lawn.  Later that night, the German Chancellor will be hosted at a formal White House State Dinner, complete with placards, toasts and tuxes.

The dinner there will, of course, be great and grand, but one can only be thankful that for a moment, at least, these two leaders could relax and enjoy all that make the 1789 Restaurant a national treasure not to be missed.   

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2011

Kate Middleton to Prepare for her Royal Wedding at the Historic Goring Hotel

Where does a future princess stay the night before millions watch her wed? Why, the Goring Hotel, of course. There is simply no other place in London that embodies style, service and serenity like the magnificent Goring Hotel.

This revered hotel is solely the creation of a legendary hotel family that still set the standards by which genuine elegance is measured  – the remarkable Gorings.  

It all began in 1920 when great grandfather Otto Richard Goring welcomed his first guests to his hotel, made 'modern' by the addition of London’s first in-room baths and uniform central heating.

But as every hotel professional knows, heat and water do not make a great hotel. Service does and Otto Richard or OR Goring, as he came to be known, understood this fact very well. With an eye for detail, he carefully thought out each possible guest request and worked hard to address it prior to occurrence. This included purchasing and planting an interior courtyard garden, so delightful even the late Queen Mother enjoyed taking tea there in later years.

In 1926 his son Otto Goring became the hotel’s Managing Director, enabling his father at 57 years of age to travel the world as a representative of the International Hotel Managers’ Association.  Later the hotel's founder would be represented by a bronze statue that still watches over the hotel from the entrance lobby, always with a fresh flower in his lapel.

While OR Goring had learned his trade through on the job training, his son Otto Gustave Goring or OG Goring was able to attend the first hotel school ever established, the ever esteemed École Hôtelière in Lausanne, Switzerland. He then went on to intern at some of the world’s leading hotels: Hôtel du Palais in Biarritz, the Plaza-Athenée in Paris and the Claridge’s in London.

OG Goring’s professional training enabled him to bring a quiet air of efficiency to his administration. No detail, no need was beyond his attention. Like his father, he was deeply involved in promoting the finest food and wine as a hallmark of quality within an industry that should value both tradition and innovation.

That ability to tastefully blend heritage with creativity would be sorely tested during World War II when OG Goring, like all London hoteliers, faced crippling shortages of food and staff. And while others lower their standards of cuisine and serve, OG Goring refused to do so.

Executive staff members learned new operational skills and the fairy-tale courtyard garden was replanted with vegetables.  Even the flower beds at the Goring’s country home were torn out and endless seedlings set out to supply the London kitchen. And any rabbit or deer daring enough to dine on Goring lettuce also ‘found’ his way to the hotel’s kitchen and the dining room.

All of London, including no less than Winston Churchill himself, came to admire the Goring’s courage not to give into fear and be less than the best, no matter the difficulties. Following the War one professional organization after another, from the International Hotel Association to the Reunion des Gastronomes, showered him with honors. 

In 1962 George Goring (or "Mr. George" was as he was affectionately called by the staff) joined his father but NOT before the Goring served as a de facto annex to Buckingham Palace during the 1953 coronation of the present Queen.  

Continuing in the family tradition, Mr. George directed the hotel from 1962 to 2005, guiding the hotel through the head-turning days of the 60’s to the beginning of the twenty-first century. Daily events ranged from defending traditional English cuisine in the press to calming various older guests when Jean Shrimpton appeared in the dining room wearing one of the first mini-skirts  – all done with the gentle charm and grace that is simply, well, The Goring.

To honor that rare ability (as well as the amazing legacy of the hotel), Mr. George was awarded the Order of the British Empire or OBE in 1992. Beginning in 2005 Jeremy, the fourth member of the Goring family, took the reins and began an exciting program of expansion and refunishing with the assistance of such leading designers as David Linley, Tim Gosling and Nina Campbell.   

Today the Goring is as elegance as always and as chic with nothing less than the best in service. No wonder Kate Middleton chose to stay there with her bridal party before her big day. The Goring is as perfect as William’s bride – modern, grounded, elegant and very, very thoughtful.

Post Note, February 3, 2013: Congratulations to London's The Goring Hotel on being granted a royal warrant by Queen Elizabeth. It is the ONLY hotel to be so honored by the Queen. A true English classic! 

 Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2011

How Lemonade Lucy Saved the White House Easter Egg Roll

While staffers all over London are busy fine tuning the last details of the upcoming royal wedding, the chefs at the U.S. White House have just finished arranging the boiling and dyeing over 14,500 eggs (yes, 14,500 eggs!) for the annual White House Easter Egg Roll.

This delightful child-centered event is an annual pleasure that everyone in Washington DC looks forward to - yet few people know how the Easter Egg Roll almost didn’t happen.    

America’s beloved very first First Lady Dolley Madison (1808 – 1817) started the tradition of rolling Easter eggs, not at the White House, but on the grounds surrounding the U.S. Capitol Building.

At that time much of Washington DC was either under construction or still a swampy marsh so the elevated grassy area around the Capitol Building was simply the best spot available for a dry egg hunt on the Monday after Easter Sunday.

Indeed, these Easter events proved so popular that pre and post Civil War thousands upon thousands of children and adults marched across the Capitol lawns looking for colored eggs.

By 1876 Congress had had enough of all these laughing children messing up their congressional lawn, not to mention their legislative dignity.

So in one of the nation’s less than child-loving moods, Congress passed the Turf Protection Act, banning all Easter egg rolling, hunting or carrying on the velvet green lawns that surrounded the oh so sartorial Capitol Dome.

But take heart, First Lady Lucy Hayes (also known as “Lemonade Lucy” as she would not serve demon rum or the like at her White House events) had a kinder heart. She invited the local children (yes, one needed to be invited – no more free-for-all as before) to come and celebrate on the White House's even more meticulously manicured lawns. Well done, Lucy!

World Wars and sometimes weather have caused the event to be cancelled or delayed but on the whole it is one of the most delightful annual events any President and First Lady can look forward to.

Over the years a costumed ‘rabbit’ had been added, along with music and healthy treats (thanks the nation’s present first lady, Michelle Obama). Admission tickets are still required but no longer to a chosen special few.

Thanks again to Michele Obama, they are issued nationwide now through a far more democratic website lottery. And oh yes, no adult may enter WITHOUT a child.

Perhaps that will teach any congressman who longs for the dictatorial powers of the past not to be so hard-hearted about sharing a little of their 'green' with any nation's greatest treasure -the children, the children - always the children. 

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2011

Update on Monday, April 25, 2011 at 8:07PM by Ana Kinkaid

Chef Jacques Pepin cooks very healthy crepes at White House Easter Egg Roll! 

Honoring THE GREAT GATSBY with a Cocktail and a Tear

This past weekend was a time to honor and grieve for one of America’s greatest books – The Great Gatsby. Written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it captured not only the Roaring 20’s, but the dangers of wealth when unaccompanied by compassionate values.  This remarkable novel revolves around the loves and losses of the wealthy Daisy Buchanan and the long suffering Jay Gatsby, all set in a grand white summer house on Long Island's Gold Coast.

Sadly, it was reported this past weekend that Land's End, the actual Long Island home, that inspired Fitzgerald has been torn down, due to its unstable condition, to be replaced by a "contemporary" real estate development more in tune with the times.  

It breaks one’s heart to see such a landmark of literary heritage lost – yet Fitzgerald’s great novel remains, capturing forever the legendary parties there where the young "moderns" danced away the warm summer nights on a velvet green lawn with a cocktail always in their hand.

And which cocktail might that have been?  Why, the Gin Rickey, Fitzgerald’s own favorite. Give it a try. It’s the perfect summer beverage. Then take a moment and raise your glass to a world class American novel that no wrecking ball can diminish – the story of Jay Gatsby and his search for the true meaning of success. 

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Gin Rickey

 Ingredients: 

•  2 oz Gin (consider using Hayman's Old Tom Gin)
• ¾ oz Lime Juice (fresh ONLY)
• Club Soda
• Lime

Method: 

1.  Fill a chilled highball glass with small ice cubes.
2. Pour the gin and lime juice over the ice.
3. Top off with club soda.
4. Stir gently.
5. Garnish with a thin lemon slice and a straw.

 Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2011