:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63076334/IMG_0276.1550595778.jpg)
The 44th President of the United States celebrated Washington’s birthday in San Francisco last night with a Presidents’ Day dinner at International Smoke, Ayesha Curry and chef Michael Mina’s downtown global barbecue restaurant. Just let it sink in.
“No greater privilege than to cook for this man on Presidents’ Day,” Mina wrote on Instagram. “Thank you for the highest honor @barackobama.”
It’s possible that Obama got the restaurant tip from his former Vice President, Joe Biden: “Uncle Joe” dined at International smoke in January 2018, though when Biden went, he appeared to only get ice cream, a treat on which the politician can reportedly subsist.
Last night’s star-studded evening also featured appearances from Ayesha’s husband, Golden State Warrior Steph Curry. Meanwhile, International Smoke also hosted celebrity cookbook author and Twitter savant Chrissy Teigen and her husband, musician John Legend. Take another minute with that.
Teigen tipped fans off yesterday that she’d be in San Francisco, and in her Instagram story, appears to be getting behind the scenes with chef Mina in the kitchen. On Twitter, she called out the Thai curry cornbread and baked oysters as favorite items.
truly had such an incredible meal at International Smoke last night. Cornbread with Thai curry, baked oysters ahhhhh amazing job @ayeshacurry and @ChefMichaelMina!! pic.twitter.com/bll0ni3icO
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) February 19, 2019
International Smoke, a partnership between Ayesha Curry and serial restaurateur Mina, opened in late 2017, featuring a menu of global barbecue dishes from St. Louis-cut ribs to Punjabi fish fry. Currently, they’re celebrating Chinese New Year with a special menu (and those Chinese lanterns in the background of Teigen’s story).
Obama is in the Bay Area for an event in Oakland today benefitting the Obama Foundations’ initiative My Brother’s Keeper, whose goal is “to build safe and supportive communities for boys and young men of color.” At the talk, Obama will reconvene with Steph Curry, and they’ll both participate in a town hall conversation with hundreds of young men of color.
The event is also the reason for Legend and Teigen’s presence in the area: Legend is involved with the initiative, and will also be speaking at My Brother’s Keeper events in Oakland.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/13973668/IMG_0341.jpg)
In a restaurant tie-in to the event, attendees will participate in a “Dine Around” at five restaurants across Oakland: Agave Uptown, Lake Chalet, Lungomare, Eve’s Waterfront, and Kingston 11. That’s billed as a “culinary and cross-culture experience” connecting young people, Obama Foundation staffers, and others.
Will Obama eat at one of those restaurants today? Maybe, but it’s unconfirmed. In past visits to the Bay Area as POTUS, he’s tended towards establishments like Spruce and 25 Lusk.
The biggest question of all: Will he remember to pick up Souvla for Michelle, who once reportedly ordered from the fast-casual Greek restaurant for her flight from SF to DC?
