11 December 2010

VIP dining at Ris in DC

I met some colleagues from the National Milk Producers Federation for lunch at Ris. When I arrived at the restaurant, there were guards at the door. Everyone was getting security ‘wanded’ before they were seated. For all the times I’ve been to Washington, DC, that’s never happened to me before.Gnudi

We were seated, and we ordered. Our server was very friendly and we asked him who was the VIP. ‘Can’t tell you,’ he replied. But when the VIP leaves, his entourage will use the side door, he pointed out. Your table is ideally located to be able to see who it is when they leave.

During lunch, we speculated about who it might be. Maybe the Vice President? Maybe Hillary Clinton? Maybe Bill Clinton?

As we finished our lunches, we noticed a flurry of activity around the private dining room in back. Sure enough, suddenly the side door swung open. A gust of wind blew in and the curtains billowed out. At that moment, the VIP was whisked out the door.

OctopusWe didn’t see who it was! But the people at the table next to us did. It was Michelle Obama.

So we didn’t exactly have a First Lady sighting. But it was kinda cool to know that we were there at the same time.

So besides the excitement of the VIP, we had a great lunch. This was my second visit to Ris. The first time was with a fairly large group. They pulled together some tables in the bar to accommodate us. Our server was very slow. On my original Yelp review I wrote: “I wouldn't drive across town to eat at Ris.” But of course, for this lunch I did come from across town, and glad I did.

After all the excitement, we asked the server about dessert. He told us that since the restaurant was celebrating its first anniversary, that they were giving their guests a special dessert. It was chocolate – not my favorite, but I ate it anyway.Charcuterie

I updated my Yelp review and this time gave it the rave it deserved, 5 stars. I’d go back even without the prospect of a VIP sighting.

Dessert

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