We may all be cutting back, but at the White House dinner Friday night for foreign leaders to discuss the global financial crisis, the meal was anything but spare. The menu for around 24 global leaders gathered in the White House State Dining Room included,
according to the AP, fruitwood-smoked quail with quince gastrique; quinoa risotto; thyme-roasted rack of lamb; tomato, fennel and eggplant fondue; a salad course of endive, baked Brie and walnuts; and a pear torte. What's raising some eyebrows though is one of the wine selections, the
Shafer Cabernet Hillside Select 2003, which runs for around $300 a bottle, if you can find it. This wine was served with the main course while more modest wines such as the Landmark Chardonnay Damaris Reserve 2006 (around $40 a bottle, served with the appetizer) and the Chandon Étoile Rosé sparkling wine (about $30 a bottle, served with dessert) rounded out the rest of the meal. The President pays for his own groceries in the White House but state dinners such as this one are paid for with taxpayer dollars. It is perhaps some comfort in this case that at least two of those attending: President Bush and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are said to be teetotalers. Others in attendance included Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd; Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper; Chinese President Hu Jintao;German Chancellor Angela Merkel; and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
