Donald Trump's first meal as president
New York: Donald Trump’s first meal as president of the United States isn’t too far from the typical power lunch for a billionaire businessman — lobster, beef and a rich chocolate dessert.
The inaugural committee Thursday released the lunch menu following the swearing-in ceremonies on Friday and Trump and some 200 guests will be tucking into a first course of Maine lobster and Gulf shrimp in a saffron sauce and peanut crumble, Angus beef from Virginia with Idaho potatoes and a dark chocolate sauce, and a chocolate souffle with cherry vanilla ice cream. California wines will accompany the meal at the Statuary Hall.
The three-course menu isn’t too far from previous lunches other new commanders in chief have enjoyed, with lobster in some form usually making the first course.
“The inaugural luncheon provides an opportunity for members of both parties to come together and, in the same spirit of all our Inaugural events, show the world how uniquely American we are in our peaceful transfer of power,” Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., chairman of the congressional inaugural committee, said in a statement Tuesday.
The meal will begin with Maine lobster and gulf shrimp, served with saffron sauce and peanut crumble, according to the committee. The entrée is Angus beef — not Trump steaks — with a dark chocolate and juniper jus. For dessert, guests will dig into chocolate soufflé and cherry vanilla ice cream.
Despite Trump’s abstinence from alcohol, other guests will get to sip two California wines and end the meal with a champagne made in California.
“The wines were made by several of the Golden State’s prominent winemakers, and complement the flavors in each of the luncheon dishes,” according to the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies statement.
After the lunch, the committee will give Trump and incoming Vice President Mike Pence a gift: hand-cut, etched crystal bowls made by Lenox for the 2017 inauguration. The bowl for Trump will feature an illustration of the White House on one side and the Jefferson Memorial on the other. Pence’s gift will be adorned with an illustration of the U.S. Capitol on one side and the Lincoln Memorial on the other.
BARACK OBAMA
Barack Obama’s first lunch as commander in chief in 2009 included lobster and shrimp in the seafood stew, but duck and pheasant with winter vegetables as the main course. An apple cinnamon spongecake was for dessert.
Four years later, the lunch included steamed lobster with New England chowder, bison with a wild huckleberry reduction and wild rice, and a dessert of apple pie.
GEORGE W. BUSH
George W. Bush in 2005 was served scalloped crab and lobster with roasted Missouri quail and brined root vegetables and a dessert of lemon pudding. In 2001, he enjoyed a lobster pie, center cut beef tenderloin steaks and toffee pudding with vanilla bean ice cream.