President Obama is scheduled to make a visit to the Gulf on Friday.
First things first though:
Scoop du jour: Forget politics. What inquiring, food-centric minds really want to know is, exactly what did President Barack Obama dine upon Tuesday night at the home of philanthropists Ann and Gordon Getty, where Sen. Barbara Boxer held a $17,600-a-plate dinner in support of her re-election campaign?
Who is Gordon Getty? Oh, nobody in particular:
[T]he fourth child of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty.... When his father died in 1976, Gordon assumed control of Getty's US$2 billion trust. According to the Forbes 400, as of September 2008 his net worth is $2.5 billion, making him number 163 on the list of the richest Americans.
Of course, I'm sure there's absolutely no connection whatsoever with the crisis in the Gulf and the timing of Obama's fundraising dinner with a rich oil magnate.
Besides, the meal sounds positively scrumptious!
With gourmet Getty chef Jennifer Johnson at the stoves, you can be sure the 100 or so supporters who were expected got their money's worth.
So Tuesday night, the plan was passed hors d'oeuvres, including quail egg with caviar and salmon ceviche with jicama and avocado on a tortilla chip.
Johnson's first course featured a spring onion-asparagus tartlet with Meyer lemon vinaigrette-dressed frisee salad.
A main course of braised Kobe beef short ribs with potato puree and a salsa verde-topped spring vegetable ragout was followed by buckwheat crepes with roasted cherries and almond ice cream.
Rumor has it the quail eggs appetizer was a last minute substitute, because good Gulf shrimp is just too hard to find nowadays.