Donald Trump’s top GOP Senate allies dined at a fancy white-tablecloth French spot on Capitol Hill on night one of the shutdown as federal workers face potential famine.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso were spotted tucking in at Bistro Cacao, by Playbook’s Adam Wren.
The plush eatery—which this year hosted billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates—is known for its velvet drapery, antique lamps, and magret de canard or filet de mignon, both priced at $45 per dish. Bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon run up to $750, and a glass of Scotch is $60.
The two Trump loyalists did so as his failure to reach a spending agreement with the Democrats left hundreds of thousands of federal workers facing furlough and food banks, as they did during the previous government shutdown in 2018.
Bistro Cacao describes itself as a “destination for exceptional taste and timeless charm,” that has been “delighting guests with its unique blend of creative French cuisine and romantic ambiance…[with] unforgettable dining experiences that celebrate the art of fine food and warm hospitality,” since opening in 2009.
Its menu promises to take diners “on a culinary journey through the heart of France,” and includes delicacies such as escargots au beurre d’ail ($15), with a wine list designed to “complement and elevate the flavors of our delectable dishes.”
The Capitol Hill eatery is known to attract D.C. power players and regularly features in reviews and round-ups. Guests have called it “the most romantic dining experience in D.C.,” and its website is a parade of candlelit, velvet-draped nooks.
Thune, 64, and Barrasso, 73, are the GOP’s leading lights in the Senate standoff, where Republicans are pushing a “clean” continuing resolution while Democrats insist on preserving Affordable Care Act subsidies and undoing Medicaid trims.
The Senate failed to pass dueling measures on Tuesday night—hours before the lights went out on government funding for the first time since 2018—setting up a prolonged fight with hundreds of thousands of livelihoods now at risk.
However, this isn’t the GOP’s only Capitol cuisine gaffe of the fall. Last month, Trump was jeered as “Hitler” by protestors during a filmed visit to Joe’s Seafood, a surf ’n’ turf spot close to the White House.
The media moment was an attempt to showcase D.C.’s security after he deployed the National Guard, but it backfired on the 79-year-old.
But it’s not just Republicans who visit Bistro Cacao. In 2023, it was reported that the then-Montana senator Jon Tester’s campaign and leadership PAC had spent at least $1.2 million at restaurants since 2006—including $15,745 at Bistro Cacao.
The Daily Beast contacted Thune, Barrasso, and the White House for comment.
Ryan Wrasse, for Thune, pointed to a post he had made on X, in which he said: “Thune and colleagues ate dinner *gasp* at one of the last remaining restaurants on the Senate-side of the Capitol.
“Everyone who knows Thune’s Midwest frugality knows he’s a huge fan of $750 bottles of wine …C’mon, guys. Nice try.”
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson—working for a press office that has admitted it is stretched due to the shutdown, and blaming, as ever, Dems, for that—simply copied and pasted her response to a previous Beast story about the shutdown.
It read: “The Daily Beast should do a story on Democrats shutting down the government because they want to give free health care to illegal aliens.”
The post Top GOP Trump Allies Gorge Themselves at $750-a-Bottle Bistro as Federal Staff Brace for Shutdown Hardship appeared first on The Daily Beast.
