Dinner with the Obamas

Obamas' Valentine's getaway

It was date night for President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama on Saturday at they dined out at the exclusive Chicago restaurant Table Fifty-Two, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. The eatery's executive chef is Art Smith, formerly Oprah Winfrey's personal chef. Table Fifty-Two offers Southern-style food, including grits, jambalaya and maple sugar short ribs.

The tidbit you just read was part of a gossipy roundup of how politicians spent their Valentine's Day. It caught my attention for two reasons:

1. When Lori and I were in Chicago in August 2008 for a journalism convention that morphed into a long weekend/mini-vacation, we ate at this very restaurant. And I think we would agree that of four very nice restaurants we tried that week, Table Fifty-Two topped the list in terms of quality of the food and overall dining experience.

2. Turns out the Obamas weren't there this past weekend. The schlep that put together the Names & Faces roundup for The Washington Post (a lowly news aide) pulled the information from the Internet and got the date wrong. The Obamas dined there on Valentine's Day in 2009. Ouch. The Post's ombudsman called attention to the error on his blog.

This year, the Obamas spent Valentine's Day at Camp David with Sasha and Malia. Lori and George, meanwhile, had a wonderful seafood paella dinner at Petisco on Northeast Broadway.

We'll have to check our 2011 calendar. Might be nice to meet up with Barack and Michelle next year.

Photo: Table 52