EmailPresident Obama and the first lady are celebrating Valentine’s Day with a meal at Chicago’s posh Table Fifty-Two Restaurant on West Elm, Chef Art Smith’s signature restaurant.
Raised on the Georgia-Florida border — as a boy he taught his pet pig to eat acorns so he wouldn’t have to pick them up himself — Smith is personal chef to Oprah Winfrey.
The Web site for the restaurant says his cuisine comes from "the finest organic farms in the Midwest" and ranges "from Low-Country Shrimp with Stone-Ground Grits and Open-Faced Pulled Pork Sandwiches to Pistachio-Crusted Chicken Breast with Coconut-Ginger-Chili Sauce and Braised Lamb Shank with Parsnip-Garlic Puree with Roasted Baby Carrots."
Smith says he approaches cooking and dining in the grand Southern tradition of his mother, aunts and grandmother: "Use the freshest seasonal ingredients, prepare them lovingly and share them with your family and loved ones."
– jpt