President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are hosting a state dinner on Thursday night for French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron, and while the evening features an array of formal ceremonies and meetings, it also provides an opportunity for the Bidens to showcase their hosting skills with a luxurious dinner.
Thursday’s state dinner will join the list of hundreds held in the White House since 1874, dating back to President Ulysses S. Grant’s hosting of a dinner for King Kalākaua of Hawaii, offering the U.S. a chance to express hospitality to its close allyships.
Welcoming the Macrons to the White House will mark the Biden administration’s first state dinner.
According to the Office of the First Lady, the menu is as follows:
Butter Poached Maine LobsterAmerican Osetra CaviarDelicata Squash RavioloTarragon Sauce
Calotte of Beef, Shallot MarmaladeTriple Cooked Butter PotatoesSunchoke & Creamed WatercressRed Wine Reduction
A variety of artisanal cheeses will also be present, including a blue cheese made by Rogue Creamery with milk sourced from Grant Pass, Oregon; a Humboldt Fog goat cheese; and Deer Creek cheddar cheese from a family-run creamery in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
The dessert menu includes Orange Chiffon Cake, Roasted Pears with Citrus Sauce and a Crème Fraiche Ice Cream. The meal will also be served with a choice of 2018 “Napa Valley” Newton Unfiltered Chardonnay, a 2019 “Knights Valley” Anakota Cabernet Sauvignon and a Roederer Estate Brut Rosé.
While the meal will act as the star of the state dinner, the decor and entertainment are bound to be as equally elegant.
The dinner will be produced with the help of Fête, an event planning and design firm led by founder Jung Lee, and will feature decor encapsulating the long history of the relationship between France and the United States.
The Office of the First Lady said images of the Statue of Liberty, oak trees and the Fleur-De-Lis symbol for France will be included in the decor, as well as red, white and blue floral arrangements. Even the wine, which is American, will be served in French-made glasses to symbolize the union between the two nations.
Entertainment will be provided by singer-songwriter Jon Batiste, accompanied by his father, Michael Batiste. The younger Batiste, 36, was most recently the bandleader and musical director of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. This year, he won five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year for We Are.
Newsweek has reached out to the White House for comment.
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