Throwing Salt.

God forbid someone ever scrutinize my predilections when it comes to food – I don’t eat pork; I don’t drink soda; and I can’t get enough of roaming the aisles of Whole Foods. No such luck for President Obama:

During the 2008 campaign Mr. Obama sometimes came across — and was often portrayed — as someone almost joylessly disciplined and restrained around food, and that discipline and restraint went hand in hand with an unflappability that, on occasions, made it difficult for him to connect.

It would have been fun to see the president contradict that impression and play against type when he and the first lady sat down to dinner in New York. It would have been interesting to watch him bust loose and reach for something rich, messy, decadent, gluttonous: a plate of fatty lamb ribs at Resto; some pâtés and terrines at Bar Boulud; one of the offal dishes at Babbo; that killer bone-in New York strip at Minetta Tavern; the oyster pan roast at the John Dory . . .

Sheesh. Between arugula and orange juice and fancy pants mustard, our president never seems to get it right.

Will someone hand me a right wing-approved menu, so I can know what the Real Amurikins are out there serving for dinner?

Also, I can’t afford to eat at any of the aforementioned places.

h/t Atrios

Joel

Joel Anderson —blackink —  writes about sports, politics, crime, courts, and other issues far beyond his competence at BuzzFeed. He has worked at media outlets in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Atlanta and contributed to a number of publications, including The Root and The American Prospect, among many others.

Latest posts by Joel (see all)

  • Someone basically had no freaking idea what to write in their column for Sunday and the deadline was in an hour…..

  • ladyfresh

    where would velveeta shells n cheese fall in here…

  • quadmoniker

    I’m going to put myself in the unpopular and probably unwise position of kind of defending Frank Bruni. He wasn’t criticizing the Obamas’ restaurant choice. He said it was good. He was criticizing how politically perfect it was. It was the right kind of food from the right kind of places, served in the right way. No one can say, “Ha ha, you told the American people to eat locally grown organic vegetables but, instead, you’re eating Chilean sea bass and pork imported from Spain!” I don’t think that’s what Bruni wants to happen. I just think it wants to see Obama let loose a little bit. I wouldn’t mind that so much myself. Even ordering a hamburger he was so. . . perfect.

  • Just out of curiousity, where on earth did you guys get the title ‘throwing salt’? Only me and my small circle of friends use that phrase, and we cannot let it be on the internetatron until it is a youtube sensation!