Trump's first D.C. dinner as president: An overcooked, $54 steak. With ketchup.

[DonViejo]

By Tom Sietsema February 27 at 7:30 PM

Donald Trump ate in his first D.C. restaurant as POTUS on Saturday night, an opportunity for the 45th president to sample what’s been hailed as the country’s top restaurant scene, show the industry some love and build a bridge in the city he’s derided as a “swamp.”

Instead, he took the predictable route, venturing less than a mile from the White House to the 263-room hotel that bears his name, where he supped with family members and politicos at BLT Prime by David Burke, a (yawn together now) steakhouse. Benny Johnson, a writer with the Independent Journal Review — and with the good fortune to have been tipped off to the presidential stopover for popovers — reported from a table away that jumbo shrimp cocktails were among the shared appetizers.

Also: Trump ordered a strip steak, which he ate per his preference, well-done and with ketchup, as if the entree would be accompanied by a sippy cup. (Insert a moment of silence for the cow, the condiment and what most chefs would call a forced marriage. Really, I feel the same way about masking the flavor of a $54 dry-aged steak as I do about guys who wear baseball caps indoors: Just don’t. And pity the new kitchen lead, chef de cuisine Brian Drosenos, who had to deal with the ultimate VIP in his first week on the job.)

For real, Mr. President? In a market where residents can practically point to a spot on a globe and find a nearby dining room that serves its cuisine? In a city where some of the country’s best contemporary Greek, Indian and, hello, even American restaurants are about as close to your door as the steakhouse in the Trump International Hotel? (Not that the president has to wait in traffic.)

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/trumps-first-dc-dinner-as-president-an-overcooked-54-steak-with-ketchup/2017/02/27/c98895b4-fd19-11e6-8f41-ea6ed597e4ca_story.html?utm_term=.aecaf37ce366&wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1

[DK504]

1. So his son-in-law is Jewish, his daughter converted

and they had shrimp cocktail? So nice to see the WH occupy eating white trash snacks while we pay or every fucking penny of this filth.

[Hortensis]

36. They do seem to be very conscientious about their

observances, DK.

[Initech]

2. Good lord, steak burned to a crisp?

Might as well just skip a step and eat the gristle directly off the grill!

Medium rare with garlic butter... That's how you enjoy a steak!

[KittyWampus]

15. it said 'strip steak' which is usually marinated.

The idea of eating well done strip steak is hard to even imagine.

[Lotusflower70]

3. Not surprising

Overcooked and dried out, just like he is. As far as showing the restaurant industry love, lol that was a serious comment was it? Trump doesn't do anything without an agenda. He doesn't see the restaurant industry as useful to him so I wouldn't expect to see him trying new places.

[MrScorpio]

4. Personally, whenever I used to eat steak, I ate it well done.

I'm not a big fan of bloody cow flesh and I'm even less of a fan of cow flesh in general these days.

But KETCHUP? What, is steak sauce too alien to this guy?

[snooper2]

5. Actually it is not bloody that is a myth everyone believes- It is Myoglobin

Watch this- Now you can say you learned something new today and eat your steak medium rare like it is meant to be

[Blue_true]

45. Medium well was how I liked steak. I don't eat beef anymore. nt

[tavernier]

8. There's a difference between a well done rib eye

cooked only to the point of eliminating the blood, but keeping the juices. With a well marbled steak and an experienced cook, this can be achieved. However, trump's butler has told us that he prefers it well beyond the juicy stage, rather more like a hockey puck that bounces on the plate. Bet he eats it with fries as well, which now makes the act unforgivable.

[GulfCoast66]

37. Hold on a minute

While I agree with most of your comments, I must defend steak with fries, or Steak Frites as they are called in France. And greatly enjoyed by every respectful French citizen in even the finest bistrots.

I will be enjoying them this fall when I visit France. I am wishing I could make it a 4 year vacation rather than 3 weeks!

[tavernier]

40. Last time I was in Paris, I had fries that were stacked

into a box, long cabin style. They were delicious as was everything at this particular restaurant, Arthur's, as I recall.
However, I am a great fan of a good baked potato, the kind with the crispy, oily, salted skin. I get very annoyed when I go to a high priced restaurant for a nice steak or fish, and my only choice of a side is fries or rice. Just laziness!

[GulfCoast66]

41. Or worse

When they wrap it in tinfoil to bake thereby steaming it.

[tavernier]

42. Amen!

[yeoman6987]

18. I loved it cooked to death and katchup until I was about 25

Then I ate a really good steak and never looked back. I don't care how he eats. I just wish he cared about America.

[Brother Buzz]

6. Burning them steaks masks the 'freezer burn'

[DetlefK]

7. Simple explanation: Trump is an old man stuck in his downtrodden ways.

You can keep your cuisine and your facts and your reports and your data and your polls and stick 'em where the sun don't shine. He has made up his mind and nothing's gonna change it.

[Orsino]

11. The little prince wants his hot chocolate exactly the way Nanny used to make it in the Tower...

...back when he was happy.

[Hortensis]

38. Yes, old man, old ways and never a sophisticated foodie anyway.

I am a bit of one and enjoy the food pages in the NYT and WaPo. I haven't read this particular article yet but expect to enjoy the usual snotty, snooty observations on him and his restaurant with my favorite "Ruth's tuna dip" made with supermarket mayo.

[Orsino]

9. I hardly think the "swamp" designation ever had anything to do with restaurants.

Ketchup on a steak will always be the absolute least odious thing about him.

[bdamomma]

10. let this 70 year old

keep on eating this kind of unhealthy not good for a person's overall health

[world wide wally]

12. And I will bet that we taxpayers picked up the bill at his restaurant.

Emoluments anyone?

[tammywammy]

26. Presidents pay for their own food except during State Dinners and other official events. n/t

[GeorgeGist]

28. He probably had it billed to the GOV anyway ...

he's UNPRESIDENTED and a cheapskate.

[world wide wally]

29. "Most" Presidents

[safeinOhio]

13. I spend $54 a week on food

and I can burn my own, thank you.

[Yavin4]

14. It should be illegal to put ketchup on a steak.

Good lord.

[Initech]

25. It should be illegal to serve steak that well done!

I love a good plate of steak frites, but dear god, so burnt that it weighs down the plate?

[2naSalit]

16. That sounds like the desired cuisine of a five year old, yup. ...nt

[pinboy3niner]

19. The beef was perfectly aged in the time since the cow committed suicide on inauguration day

[dragonlady]

22. Thank you for the laugh! n/t

[lpbk2713]

20. I get this image in my mind's eye.

Of Jake and Elwood eating haute cuisine.

[Initech]

24. We're on a mission from God!

[Mendocino]

21. Waiter!

[link:

|

[OldHippieChick]

23. I wish he'd just save us the money and

order KFC instead. Obviously, much better cuisine.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

27. I must protest at those who equate well done with burned.

When I was younger I preferred my meat well done. It was only as I entered my 30's that I started to appreciate a less well-cooked steak or burger.

But for me, rare is still disgusting.

As for the ketchup, it adds sweet to the meat taste, which says a lot about Trump's taste buds. And that none of his wives could move him in the direction of more sophisticated food.

A complete aside about ketchup: for reasons that don't matter here, I didn't use any on my burgers for about five years or so. And then one day I got some in a restaurant for a burger, and was astonished at how sweet it was. Has ketchup gotten a lot sweeter recently, or was it just that I hadn't had any in so long?

[Initech]

30. I am trying to find the article.

But I saw a while back that a former Trump Tower chef was interviewed and he said that Trump liked his steaks so well done that they "weighed down the plate". That was the exact quote. You might as well just skip a step and eat the gristle directly off the grill at that point.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

39. Saying an extremely well done steak

weighs down the plate is a bit strange, because it would actually get lighter in the cooking.

And if there's gristle in the steak, it will be gross no matter what degree of doneness or rareness is there.

[Ilsa]

32. Yeah, a lot of ketchup has high fructose corn syrup.

Some ketchups are sweeter than others.

I prefer malt vinegar with my fries. And maybe a teaspoon of A1 or Heinz57 with my occasional steak cooked mefium.

[yuiyoshida]

31. I don't eat beef anyway but if I did.. I would pass!

really?? no....

[louis-t]

33. He should have donated the $54 to a homeless shelter

and eaten his shoe instead.

[get the red out]

34. Can't judge too harshly

My sister eats it burned to shoe leather with ketchup, and she's very much a liberal.

I like medium rare with no condiments to drown out the yummy!

IMO, Trump needs cafe` Jenny Craig.

[Mendocino]

35. He can't read menus,

so he always gets the same thing.

[PCIntern]

43. I'm a Pittsburgh-rare guy myself

but I'm very weird myself.

[Beacool]

44. Like everything else about the man, his palate is unsophisticated.

He's a crass nouveau riche, uncultured, boorish and vulgar. He's also a self-promoter who would sell his soul for a buck. He doesn't have the class to go to a restaurant that he doesn't own. Same for golfing. It always has be one of his own clubs. It's all about making money by promoting his properties.