p(right caption). The president’s favorite chef at work at Spiaggia
President Barack Obama cheered on his hometown basketball team last week and was surprised by some hometown cuisine prepared by his ‘favorite chef.’
The Chicago Bulls were in Washington to face the Wizards and although the president couldn’t have been too happy with the result (the Bulls lost by 23 points), he was happy to see that his favorite chef had flown in from Chicago to surprise him with his favorite dish: wood-roasted scallops.
Chef Tony Mantuano of Spiaggia (where the Obamas often dine) says Mr. Obama always orders the dish at the Chicago Italian restaurant.
Levy Restaurants handles specialty catering for Washington’s Verizon Center, and also happens to own Spiaggia. When word came down that Mr. Obama would be dining in the owner’s box at the game, somebody came up with the idea of flying Chef Mantuano to the nation’s capitol to prepare the scallops.
According to a report in the Chicago Tribune, Mr. Obama asked a photographer at the scene to ‘take a picture of me with my favorite chef,’ much to the delight of Chef Mantuano.
