Last night, Stephan Pyles personally cooked for for First Lady Michelle Obama and the Former First Lady of Dallas, Matrice Kirk. First, the ladies split a Caesar salad with polenta crouton. Mrs. Obama’s entree was a seared halibut with a crabmeat-tamale tart. She also downed four bites of a cowboy rib-eye with red chile onion rings.
The First Lady and Chef Pyles spoke of his decades-long efforts with Share Our Strength and childhood hunger, which she called the other side of childhood obesity (her passion).
Pyles shares some other details, including the other First Ladies he’s cooked for (7!), on his Facebook page:
The other “Firsts” were Laura Bush, Hilary Clinton, Barbara Bush, Nancy Reagan, Rosalind Carter and Betty Ford. The one I most wanted to cook for but never did? Lady Bird Johnson. I adored that woman! Who does not think of her every time they drive through the Texas Hill Country in spring?
Madame O. was served Seared Halibut with Crabmeat-Tamale Tart, Caesar Salad and the Bone-In Cowboy Ribeye with Red Chile Onions Rings. I was impressed she ordered such a robust meal but she only had about 4 bites of the Cowboy Ribeye. Moderation! as my late and great friend Julia Child used to cry. “Eat it all”, she used to say, “just don’t make a pig of yourself”. Besides, she has to keep those terrific arms in good shape. And speaking of which, she wore sleeves last night!
Regretfully, he forgot to take a picture.
UPDATE: I can’t believe I went to college for this. I printed information above sent to me by a publicist. The details are a little off.
Here goes: Ms. Obama did NOT order two entrees. According to Pyles: “They ordered a Caesar salad to split and she (Mrs. Obama) ordered the cowboy rib-eye for her entree. When I got their order, I sent them out a halibut/tamale tart appetizer so by the time she got to the rib-eye she was probably full (my fault). She ate almost half the rib-eye which is more than most women eat.”
UPDATE: Okay, curious folks. More from Pyles: “Matrice had the same appetizer I sent out to Michelle, she of course split the Caesar and had the Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin with Yucca-Huitlacoche Hash and pickled Blackberries as her entree. Matrice picked up the check.”
