Dinner with the President: food, politics, and a history of breaking bread at the White House

By: Alex Prud'homme

Perhaps the most significant meals in the world have been consumed at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue by the presumptive leaders of the free world. … Alex Prud’homme takes us to the dining tables of the White House to look at what the presidents chose to eat, how the food was prepared and by whom, and the context in which the meals were served, making clear that every one of these details speaks volumes about both the individual president and the country he presided over. We see how these gustatory messages touch on not only sometimes curious personal tastes, but also local politics, national priorities, and global diplomacy–not to mention all those dinner table conversation taboos: race, gender, class, money, and religion.