Martha's Vineyard 2011: Obama Dining Report

Local, organic and fried: President, First Lady re-visit favorite eateries during island vacation...

During a summer vacation cut short by a day thanks to Hurricane Irene, President Obama and First Lady Obama had just three public dining excursions while relaxing on Martha's Vineyard. The President and Mrs. Obama have summered on the tony island off the coast of Massachusetts for fifteen years, and they visited all three eateries during their 2010 vacation, too.



The outings included dinner at State Road restaurant in West Tisbury last Thursday; a visit to Nancy's Restaurant & Snack Bar in Oak Bluffs to get takeout last Sunday; and a date night dinner at the Beach Plum Inn in Menemsha, on the first full day of the vacation, on Friday, Aug. 19th. (Above: Leaving Nancy's; the visit was the only dining excursion that was photographed by the press)



The dinners were sprinkled between a rare 5.8 magnitude East Coast earthquake felt from Virginia to Massachusetts (though not by the President, who was golfing at the time); regime change in Libya; and a major effort to coordinate the federal hurricane response. But there was also time for First Family beach outings, a trip to Bunch of Grapes bookstore; a reception thrown by Harvard professor and close friend Charles Ogletree; a cycling excursion; and plenty of golf. The President played all three of the island's courses, including a game at Mink Meadows Golf Club with Sam Kass, Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives. (Above: The President and daughter Malia cycle through Manuel F. Correllus State Forest in West Tisbury on Aug. 23rd)



State Road: Deval Patrick, Vernon Jordan join First Couple

The President and First Lady's last public dinner on island came on Aug. 25th at State Road, after a day enjoying the sun at a private beach. At close to three hours, the meal was their longest dining excursion of the holiday. Shortly after 7:00 PM, the First Couple were joined by close friends including Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and his wife Diane Patrick; senior advisor Valerie Jarrett and her daughter Laura; and Washington attorney and powerbroker Vernon Jordan (who also golfed with the President during the vacation) and his wife Ann Jordan. The Jordans and Valerie Jarrett were at the Obamas' State Road dinner in Summer 2010, too. (Above: The President with Jordan at Farm Neck Golf Club on Aug. 23)



President Obama went to bat for Governor Patrick during his 2010 re-election campaign. "When Deval speaks, I listen,” he told a crowd of Patrick supporters last October during an appearance at the Westin Copley Place hotel in Boston. Mrs. Obama is also a major Patrick fan: She last visited Massachusetts on June 30th for a fund-raiser for Mr. Obama at a private residence in Chestnut Hill. She told the avid crowd that the Governor is “one of my favorite people in the whole wide world," and described Patrick as “your fabulous governor.” At the 2011 Governors Dinner at the White House in February, Patrick sat at the Head Table with the President and Mrs. Obama (Above: Toasting after the President's remarks)



State Road calls itself as "a contemporary American tavern," and features a seasonal menu with vegetables plucked from its own garden as well as sourced from local organic purveyors. The menu specials for the evening included "Morning Glory Farm sweet corn soup, Good Farm roasted chicken, Menemsha fluke, and steamed local clams.” The eatery notes the 2010 Presidential dinner on its website.



Takeout from Nancy's...and regime change in Libya

The President and First Lady's visit to Nancy's Restaurant & Snack Bar on Sunday, Aug. 21 to grab some takeout could not have been more different from the white-tablecloth experience at State Road, though it, too, included Valerie Jarrett: She joined the President at the ordering window. Chicago pal Dr. Eric Whitaker was also at the restaurant. (Above: Jarrett is in the floral dress as the President waves to fans)



Nancy's is a Vineyard institution, known for its wide range of fried seafood---clams, oysters, shrimp, calamari--and excellent cocktails, and has been open since 1960. Hundreds of well wishers lined the streets of Oak Bluffs and hung out of windows as the President and Mrs. Obama arrived and departed. At 8:25 PM, they decamped to Jarrett's home--three minutes away by motorcade--to enjoy the feast. (Above: The President places his takeout order at Nancy's)



"The First Family went to the home where Valerie Jarrett is staying to have dinner with friends," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told the press pool.



Only later did the White House reveal that the President, while at Jarrett's, had a conference call with his senior advisors about the evolving situation in Libya, where protesters were massing in the capitol, and it looked like the rebels would shortly be triumphant. The President also crafted a statement calling for Muammar Gaddafi to step down, which was released that night. (Above: Jarrett with the President in his limo on Aug. 20th)



"The people of Libya are showing that the universal pursuit of dignity and freedom is far stronger than the iron fist of a dictator," President Obama said.



The 2010 Presidential visit to Nancy's was during the day, when the First Family had lunch with a huge group of friends. The Obamas ordered fried takeout at Nancy's during their 2009 vacation, too.



Beach Plum Date Night...

On Friday, Aug. 19th, the first full day of the vacation, the President and Mrs. Obama enjoyed a two-hour dinner at the restaurant at the Beach Plum Inn in Menemsha. The lovely, intimate eatery has a menu that spotlights locall, organic and sustainably sourced foods. It is perched atop a cliff with a stunning, panoramic view of Menemsha Harbor. The First Couple arrived at 7:38 PM, just in time for sunset. A post about the visit is here. Mr. and Mrs. Obama dined at the Beach Plum last summer, too. Beach Plum also features the 2010 Presidential visit on its website.



Working vacation...

The President's vacation began on Aug. 18th against a backdrop of media and GOP criticism that he was relaxing while the economy was flailing--and the White House was quick to push back against this. Seven different official photos of the President hard at work at Blue Heron Farm, his 28.5 acre rental estate in Chilmark, were released--including a photo taken in the morning on the first full day of the vacation. The White House also posted a photo gallery on the official blog of other Presidents on vacation, to make the point that all who hold the nation's highest office do, in fact, take a break. The President and Mrs. Obama arrived in Massachusetts hours apart in separate planes late on Aug. 18th, and this also led to criticism. (Above: One of the official photo releases showed the President receiving an economic briefing from aide Brian Deese, Deputy Director of the National Economic Council on August 24th)



The First Family returned to Washington, DC on Friday, Aug. 26th, and arrived back at the White House shortly before midnight. (Above: Walking across the South Lawn)



Restaurant info...

State Road is at 688 State Road, West Tisbury, Martha's Vineyard, MA 02575. Phone: 508-693-8582.



Nancy's is at 29 Lake Avenue, Oak Bluffs, Martha's Vineyard, MA, 02557. Phone: 508-693-0006.



Beach Plum Inn is at 50 Beach Plum Lane, PO Box 98, Menemsha, Martha's Vineyard, MA 02552. Phone: 508-645- 9454.



*Photos by Getty, AFP and AP, except for Deese photo; that's by Pete Souza/White House

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A Different Kind Of Slicing For Sam Kass

When the assistant chef golfs with his boss on Martha's Vineyard...who wins?
During more than two and a half years at the White House, assistant chef and Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives Sam Kass has rarely appeared in photos with President Obama. In fact, there's not a single photo in the official White House Flickr of Kass with his boss. But during the Presidential vacation on Martha's Vineyard, Kass was photographed golfing with the President on Wednesday, Aug. 24th, at Mink Meadows Golf Club (above). Coincidentally, both are lefties, but are their skills on the greens equivalent?

The game on the nine-hole course in Vineyard Haven lasted about 2 1/2 hours, but the only photos of Kass that were snapped by pool photographers were rear views, and they give no indication of skill. President Obama's close Chicago friend and confidante, Dr. Eric Whitaker, and White House trip director Marvin Nicholson completed the foursome. Whitaker is at left in the photo at top.

Do knife and baseball skills translate to the links?
The President plays golf regularly, but Kass has been noted as part of a Presidential foursome only once before, in a game that was also at Mink Meadows, in August of 2009 (above). The chef might be as good with a 9 iron as he is with a knife: The architect of First Lady Obama's food policy was a baseball star in high school and college. Kass was wickedly hot with a bat, and held a handful of Illinois state high school and college hit records. He was actually so good that he aspired to join the Major Leagues before discovering his true calling, and said recently that being a pro player would be his "dream job" if he wasn't a chef. Golf Digest has estimated the President's handicap at 17, but no such estimate exists for Kass. (Above: The President, Kass and Nicholson during the 2009 golf outing)

Unfortunately, there's no way of knowing if Kass' sensational baseball swing translates to the links because the White House declined to say if anyone in the President's game was, er, slicing banana balls into the cabbage. And the President's pool, as is typical, was held far away from the action, so couldn't report details. For the record, Nicholson is a frequent golf companion for the President, as is Whitaker, when he's in Washington.

Related: The Obama Vineyard dining report is here. The President's 2011 Summer Reading List is here.

*AP photos

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President Obama's 2011 Summer Reading List

White House releases the titles: Books about epic journeys, coming of age in unfamiliar lands, and hardboiled crime...

A White House official today announced President Obama's summer reading list for his ten-day vacation on Martha's Vineyard. The five books are about epic journeys, both real and imagined. They include crime, heartbreak, and high drama. On Friday morning, President Obama visited Bunch of Grapes bookstore in Vineyard Haven, accompanied by daughters Malia and Sasha. He purchased two of the books there, and brought three with him to the island, according to the official. Four are novels, and one is a massive, critically acclaimed work of African American history. The President will be enjoying his books in between ice cream runs, golfing, and working. (Above: At Bunch of Grapes on Friday)



At Bunch of Grapes, the President purchased:



The Bayou Trilogy, three novels by Daniel Woodrell. Collected in a single volume for the first time, Woodrell's stories are about "the adventures of Det. Rene Shade, an ex-boxer turned cop."



Rodin's Debutante, by Ward Just. The author's 17th novel is the tale of a boy who "comes of age in mid-20th-century Chicago and tries to find a way to create art in the face of the world's harshness."



President Obama brought these books with him:



To The End of The Land, a novel by David Grossman. Originally published in 2008 in Hebrew as A Woman Fleeing the News, the book tells the story of living in Israel during the era of terrorism and the occupation.



The Warmth of Other Suns, by Isabel Wilkerson. The author is a Pulitzer Prize winner, and the tome, published in 2010, is described as the "epic" story of America's Great Migration, documenting "the sweeping 55-year-long migration of black Americans from the South."



Cutting For Stone, a novel by Abraham Verghese. The author's first novel is about Marion and Shiva Stone, twin brothers "born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon." They are orphaned, and the novel follows their triumphs and tribulations as they journey to America.



The President purchased several books for Malia and Sasha during the Bunch of Grapes visit, but there was no word from the White House on what these titles are. On Friday night, the President and First Lady Obama dined out for the first time during their vacation, visiting Beach Plum Inn and Restaurant in Menemsha, which is located close to their rental estate.



*Getty photo

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Hard At Work On The Vineyard...

The White House just released the first photo of President Obama on vacation in Martha's Vineyard.



The photo shows the President working, of course, since there has been much criticism about the President taking a holiday. He's receiving a national security briefing from John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Counterterrorism.



"This morning, the President received a briefing, on paper, from his economic team and the presidential daily briefing on national security from his top counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan," said spokesman Josh Earnest.



*Pete Souza/White House.

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