Check Out the New Obama 'Kailua Blue' China
The Obamas' new china took three-and-a-half years to design.
— -- The state dinner on Tuesday for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will be a celebration of "a long-awaited spring" and the long-awaited Obama china.
Guests at the lavish dinner will be treated to toro tartare, Wagyu tenderloin and silken custard cake prepared by famed chef Masaharu Morimoto, all served on the newly unveiled 11-piece Obama state china.
It took three and a half years and countless consultations to design the new service, which is manufactured by Pickard China of Antioch, Illinois, according to White House officials.
"For a new state china service, First Lady Michelle Obama wanted it to have modern elements, but also for it to be practical, in the sense that it would be complementary to the preceding historic state services," according to the White House.
The Obama china stands out, in part for the teal blue band of color around each plate, a hue that the White House has dubbed "Kailua Blue," a nod to the president's home state of Hawaii. The service also includes an individual tureen, "a form not found in other White House services."
The purchase of the china was funded by a special donation from the White House Endowment Trust of the White House Historical Association, a private, nonprofit organization.
The china will be showcased at Tuesday's dinner, set on cheery blue tablecloths, surrounding bright pink bouquets of orchids and cherry blossoms, officials said. The spring theme will be further underscored by a curtain of crystals hanging in the State Dining Room to represent the spring rain.
Guests will enjoy a menu that "fuses traditional American cuisine with a Japanese influence," according to the White House, including a classic American Caesar salad with a Japanese twist (literally, the salad is wrapped in a clear acetate and tied with a mizuhiki cord "emulating a gift to be opened").