WASHINGTON -- Friday night was family night for first lady Michelle Obama, who enjoyed dinner at Cedar in Penn Quarter alongside sister-in-law Maya Soetoro-Ng, her husband Konrad Ng and their two children.
A representative for Cedar tells The Huffington Post that Obama went "casual cute" for the 5:45 p.m. dinner, dressing down in a black-and-white plaid jacket and jeans. A small restaurant with just 55 seats, Cedar screened off part of a lower dining area for the first lady's party of five.
As tweets trickled out announcing the first lady's presence, Cedar confirmed the news on Facebook and Twitter:
With so many restaurants from which to chose we are honored that The First Lady selected Cedar as her dining destination this evening. It was our great pleasure to have her as our guest.
Obama started her meal with an amuse bouche of housemade pork sausage and fennel with calamari on a tomato ragout; dinner continued with a citrus salad featuring endives, grapefruit, tangerine and housemade balsamic. For her entree, the first lady ordered Virginia-raised Black Angus steak, which comes with creamed spinach, bread dumpling and burgundy jus for $28.00.
The famously fit first lady didn't order dessert, but the kitchen sent out a sampling of chocolate treats.
Cedar tells HuffPost that before the first lady left, she met with Chef Aaron McCloud to discuss their shared passion for seasonal produce (he's a regular at the Penn Quarter FRESHFARM Market) and his dream of constructing a rooftop garden.
Since moving to Washington five years ago, Obama has frequently been spotting dining out around town, both with and without her husband. In February, the first lady ate foie gras at Fiola, and she celebrated her birthday in January with dinner at Cafe Milano.
